Digital dominance: Passionate fans fire #AsianCup2023 to nearly 8 billion impressions
The AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 will go down in history as by far the most engaging ever edition of Asia's crown jewel after registering a historic 7.9 billion impressions across all of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)'s digital channels.
This impressive mark obliterates the previous record of 890 million impressions that was set during the 2019 tournament in the United Arab Emirates by almost nine times and only serves to further underline the remarkable support showcased by the Continent's passionate football audience.
It is one of the many milestones established during the 18th iteration of the AFC Asian Cup, which witnessed over one million link clicks generated from a total of 15,384 posts across Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, Snapchat, Telegram, Threads, YouTube, Weibo, Douyin, Donqiudi and Toutiao.
Engaging video content including exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and highlights resulted in 1.1 billion video views throughout the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, marking an astonishing 1,211% increase from the 2019 edition.
AFC General Secretary, Datuk Seri Windsor John, said: "Asian football fans are undoubtedly amongst the most vibrant and passionate anywhere in the world, and this landmark achievement only serves to reinforce that reputation.
"Our fans are the heartbeat of the game and as part of the AFC's Vision to reaffirm football as the Continent's number one sport, we are resolute in our commitment to constantly enhance the ways in which to serve and engage them, and nowhere is that more evident than in the various innovative offerings on our digital channels and platforms, in particular during the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023.
"We must thank the passionate followers of Asian football for helping us to make the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 the best ever flagship men's competition, which also set new records for spectatorship and TV viewership, and look forward to further galvanising the fanbase as we look to another spectacular celebration in 2027."
Already, the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 had become the first AFC competition to smash the one billion mark just 10 days into the tournament. Not only was the showpiece the most multi-language in Continental football history, the Confederation's digital platforms also saw an overall increase of 11.6 million new fans as followers grew by 398% across all channels.
The overall number of 7.9 billion is a result of a comprehensive digital strategy by the AFC developed to serve the different regions across a diverse Continent by offering its content in 13 different languages across 12 platforms for the first time in AFC Asian Cup™ history.
More than 3.5 billion digital conversations were sparked with the AFC's YouTube channel surpassing 1.53 billion impressions and the AFC Asian Cup Instagram platform witnessing staggering impressions of 1.26 billion and 431 million video views.
Following closely behind was the AFC Asian Cup Facebook platform with 602 million impressions, whilst fervent supporters also flocked to Chinese platforms, Weibo and Douyin, which received a combined total of 364 million impressions. Meanwhile, the AFC's amplification collaborations garnered 336 million impressions while the Confederation's X platform received impressions of 247 million.
Additionally, the AFC developed its first-ever app, the AFC LIVE App, which was launched prior to the start of the tournament and delivered engaging initiatives including the Fantasy Football and Match Predictor, receiving over 120,000 downloads.
With the conclusion of the thrilling AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, fans of Asian football can continue to enjoy the exciting and in-depth digital coverage of the upcoming AFC Asian Qualifiers, the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Thailand 2024, the AFC U23 Asian Cup™ Qatar 2024, the AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup Indonesia 2024 as well as its revamped three-tier club competitions and the breakthrough AFC Women's Champions League™ to commence from the second half of 2024.