In recent years, the digital revolution has transformed the way we consume content, including sports events. This article written by myself and Jan Andre Lee Ludvigsen - free open access here - delves into the digital consumption of the Paralympic Games on YouTube, by analysing how the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) engages with consumers in this digital platform. By using YouTube Data Tools, we have examined a staggering 17,701 videos from the Paralympic Games' channel.
YouTube, as the world's largest video-sharing platform, plays a significant role in the digital consumption of sports events (here you can find our analyses in relation to the Olympic Games and YouTube), including the Paralympic Games. The IPC recognizes the need to embrace this new digital platform to reach broader audiences and cultivate a more diverse fan base. Our research supports the notion that YouTube is both a complementary and substitute platform for traditional television in consuming sporting events like the Paralympics.
Contrary to popular belief, the digital revolution does not completely overthrow the traditional sport/media relationship. Instead, it adapts and continues the symbiotic nature of this relationship. This shift represents an evolution rather than a revolution, enabling the IPC to transcend traditional media editorial logic where media organisations have the power to determine what content is seen, which historically has hidden disability sport events such as the Paralympic Games. In that logic, editors, journalists, and media organisations more generally act as powerful gatekeepers.
On the other hand, it is crucial to recognise that the digital consumption of the Paralympic Games on YouTube operates within the platform's algorithmic logic. Algorithms determine the content presented to users based on their preferences and viewing habits, and how content generators such as IPC curate their channels and their videos more specifically. While this allows the IPC to bypass traditional media editorial logic and be available to anyone/anywhere/anytime, it also highlights the unpaid digital labour of audiences. Users engage with videos by watching, liking and commenting, and therefore generate data that contributes to the algorithm's effectiveness. If users are not actively engaging with the videos through liking or commenting they might be hindering the reach of those videos to other users. Thus, the digital media landscape is shaped not only by sport organisations who create and share content, but also by the active participation of audiences (as we can see in the image above). Therefore it is important to acknowledge how users become powerful gatekeepers in this new algorithm logic.
Therefore, the digital consumption of the Paralympic Games on YouTube signifies a paradigm shift in the sport/media landscape. YouTube acts as both a complementary and substitute platform to traditional television, enabling the IPC to engage with a wider audience throughout the whole year, and not only when it stages its mega-event - the Paralympic Games. However, what we have encountered was that the IPC had peak productions during the Paralympic Games or other mega-events such as Para-Athletics or Para-Swimming World and European championships. This peak production correlated also with peak viewership, meaning that other events or sports/disciplines became hidden within the Paralympics YouTube channel.
As the digital revolution continues to reshape the sport industry, organisations like the IPC must navigate this landscape thoughtfully, ensuring inclusivity, accessibility, and ethical engagement with their audience. The challenge posed to those organisations such as the IPC is to how give visibility to diverse athletes, sports, disciplines, and classifications without making some invisible in the different digital platforms.
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