2023 Year in Review - Social Media: Building the digital footprint for the future of Baseball, Softball and Baseball5
29/12/2023 1 Minute Read

2023 Year in Review - Social Media: Building the digital footprint for the future of Baseball, Softball and Baseball5

A year filled with action for the WBSC featuring Baseball, Softball and Baseball5 World Cups was perfectly reflected on WBSC's social media platforms. Fans from around the world enjoyed an unprecedented amount of content, joining in on the passion and fun of these global disciplines.

A year filled with Baseball, Softball and Baseball5 action on the field was reflected strongly off the field with a major boost in engagement and followship on the WBSC social media platforms, helping them to continue to grow and engage with fans around the world.

With three Baseball World Cups, four Softball World Cups plus the debut of the Youth Baseball5 World Cup and Baseball Champions League, the international baseball/softball stage had action for everyone.

The response on the WBSC Social Media platforms was strong with the WBSC social community surpassing 1.1 million followers.

TikTok remains the fastest-growing WBSC Social Media platform, doubling the number of followers from last year. By the end of 2022, the WBSC TikTok profile surpassed 40,000 followers, and by the end of 2023, the number of followers are 82,700. Additionally, this platform had 14.4 million video views during the year.

@wbsc Not once but twice. On the money! (🔙 2018 Women's Baseball World Cup) #wbsc #Beisbol #womensbaseball ♬ Fast-paced shuffle dance EDM - New Air

Facebook remains the biggest WBSC social media presence with a following that reached 621,000, representing a 10% growth on 2022.

During 2023, X, formerly Twitter, continues to be a reliable source of information for a dedicated audience, reaching 115,000 followers while Instagram maintained its impressive growth, reaching 111,000 followers, marking a 13% growth during 2023.

YouTube maintained its growth from 2022, reaching 185,000 subscribers on the channel that allows fans to watch and enjoy highlights from the WBSC tournaments, complementing the WBSC's OTT channel - GameTime, which offers live streaming and on-demand games.

In other WBSC platforms, the Korean-focused social media platform Naver collected 1.4 million video views, while the Korean platform Kakao surpassed half a million video views. Another Asian-focused platform, Weibo, continues its steady growth and has now surpassed 55,000 followers. The growth of the WBSC eSport discipline is also seeing steady engagement on traditional gaming platforms such as discord.

With the WBSC flagship event Premier12 scheduled for November 2024, along with another packed Baseball, Softball and Baseball5 calendar, another exciting and prosperous year for the global online baseball/softball community is ahead.