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ESPN Digital platforms continued their momentum throughout the month of October, finishing No. 1 in the U.S. Sports category for a 32nd consecutive month. As the company has emphasized the importance of sustained proliferation in this sector, the brand garnered 123.7 million unique visitors, according to recently released data from Comscore. ESPN finished with nearly 25 million more unique visitors than Minute Media, which finished second in the category and owns brands such as Fansided, The Players’ Tribune and Sports Illustrated among others.
For the month of October across ESPN Digital, YouTube and ESPN Social media platforms, the company reached 199.3 million unique fans and approximately 71% of U.S. adults. The ESPN App remained No. 1 in October and reached 31.1 million unique users, generating more than the next seven non-ESPN apps combined within the Mobile Sports App category. Furthermore, the ESPN App registered its most-used day ever on Saturday, Oct. 26, according to data from Adobe Analytics. The ESPN Fantasy sports app was No. 1 among fantasy apps for the month, amassing 12 million unique fans.
ESPN Social reached its 40th consecutive month as the No. 1 brand among sports properties, accruing a total of 738 million engagements in October. ESPN remains the most-followed brand on TikTok and also has large presences on Facebook, X and Instagram. The company has also produced a special edition of SportsCenter tailored for users of Snapchat and daily stories pertaining to milestones, events and conversations taking place within the world of sports.
Kaitee Daley is overseeing digital, social and streaming content in a senior vice president role under a recent restructuring of the ESPN content organization. In a conversation with Barrett Media at the ESPN Edge conference, she discussed how this content can help drive viewership of events on linear and streaming platforms, thus contributing to audience expansion.
“We know that following ESPN on one social platform only lifts usage intent, especially for our 18 to 24-year-old demo, so I would say it’s more about that top-of-funnel awareness and that lifting of usage intent when it comes to off platform to on platform,” Daley said. “But I’ll also say that our ESPN app has [an] incredible streaming experience, and we do want people to be there watching our full games when we have those available, especially come next fall.”
