ESPN Digital makes strong start to 2021
February 26, 2021
According to Comscore, ESPN Digital kicked off 2021 recording the second-largest US monthly audience in sports category history with 110.9 million unique visitors in January, only behind the 117 million unique visitors ESPN reached in the same month last year.
For context, this means that 40 per cent of the entire US internet population – not just sports category users – visited an ESPN property in January. This extends ESPN Digital’s leadership position to 35 straight months as the No. 1 US sports category property.
The month attracted 6 billion total minutes spent, up +1 per cent year-over-year.
Specifically, the ESPN App maintained its leadership position as the No. 1 US sports app with 21.8 million unique visitors and 1.9 billion total minutes, each more than triple that of the next closest competitor.
Downloads were also up +16 per cent YOY, driven by ESPN+ exclusive live coverage of UFC 257 that generated the most downloads over a two-day period ever for the ESPN App.
Additionally, the ESPN Fantasy App in January attracted 6.2 million unique visitors and 462 million total minutes, up +43 per cent and +185 per cent YOY.
January marked the fifth straight month for ESPN Social as the No. 1 sports media publisher for engagement with 396.1 million total actions across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (source: Shareablee). It also attracted 1.4 billion video views across Twitter and Facebook for the month.
Specifically, average engagement per post to the @espn and @sportscenter accounts were up +8 per cent across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The @espn TikTok account also grew its reach to 13.6 million in January, more than tripling its following YOY.
The most-watched digital show in January was Countdown to the CFP Championship, which drew 4.1 million viewers and 5.7 million total minutes across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the ESPN App.