Olympic Committee Aims to ‘Empower’ Athletes to Post on Social Media More After They Generated 8 Billion Engagements at Paris Games: ‘We Expect L.A. to Be Even Bigger’

The appetite for digital content smashed all records during last year’s summer Olympics in Paris.

And it wasn’t solely the sporting events that attracted more eyeballs than ever before across streaming and online platforms, but also the off-pitch content made by the athletes themselves.

According to Jérôme Parmentier, the International Olympic Committee’s VP of media rights and content partnerships, athletes in Paris “generated 8 billion social engagements,” adding that social media is now “completely embedded” into sports.

Speaking at a panel at the recently concluded IMGxRedBird Summit in the U.K. entitled “The Next Billion Fans,” Parmentier pointed to examples such as Henrik Christiansen, the Norwegian swimmer who went viral for his enthusiastic TikTok videos about the Olympic Village muffins.

“Athletes are now the No. 1 creators at an Olympic Games,” he said. “There are 10,000 athletes coming to the Olympic Village. They all are on social media. So obviously, they are part of the ecosystem.”

The surge in videos made by Olympic athletes — content that helps adds distinct personal touches and behind-the-scenes authenticity to the overall Olympics story — marks a complete turnaround from the situation just over a decade ago, where they were effectively banned.

“In 2008 and 2012, we were not allowed to take any video content inside the village and post it online — and it was strictly forbidden to take any photos only with the strict, explicit permission of the other person in the photo,” recalled Tom Daley, the British Olympic champion diver (who announced his retirement after Paris).

Now, the IOC hasn’t just scrapped these rules but, according to Parmentier, is looking to “empower athletes to do more and to grow their social following, because we know there’ll be economic opportunity through that.”

Back to the sports, the Paris Olympics saw a surge in viewing on digital platforms compared to previous games, thanks to the ramped up coverage efforts across YouTube, Peacock, Discovery+ and Max.

“All streamers saw an increase liked they’d never seen before of digital consumption,” said Parmentier, who added that “around 400 billion minutes were streamed.”

The exec claimed that every network was reporting rises of more than 50%, 70% and even 100% on their figures from the Tokyo Games, held just three years before in 2021 because of COVID. Given the rise in digital platforms and the four-year gap between the next Olympics, Parmentier said the online audience was only going in one direction.

“The boom of digital consumptions across has been huge, and we don’t expect this to stop going into the Winter Olympics in Cortina, then L.A.,” he said. “Being where they are, we expect L.A. to be even bigger.”