Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.47960/2712-0457.2026.1.8.17
OPTIMIZING DIGITAL PRESENCE: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS WEBSITES OVER A TEN-YEAR PERIOD
Dražen Maleš
; Hrvatsko katoličko sveučilište, Zagreb, Hrvatska
*
Martin Labaš
; Hrvatsko katoličko sveučilište, Zagreb, Hrvatska
* Dopisni autor.
Sažetak
The focus of this study are informational, media-oriented, and multimedia features and practices that most commonly characterize official websites of major international sporting events. A quantitative content analysis of 140 official websites was conducted allowing trend detection across a decade. The corpus of events embraces 34 sports spanning nine macro-categories. Data collection was performed via quantitative content analysis using a custom-developed coding matrix comprising 23 binary variables grouped into five thematic categories. Results indicate that while official websites reliably fulfil basic informational functions - such as event news, schedules, and results - they often lack advanced communication services aimed at enhancing media coverage and audience engagement. About one-third publish press releases, just over half include promotional content about the host destination, one-fifth offer press kits, and one-quarter provide live streaming, with a notable post-pandemic increase. Team sports events showed significantly higher press release publication rates than individual sports, however, differences in the presence of dedicated media sections based on event type or geographical level were not statistically significant. The majority of event websites use independent “.com” domains, with about one-quarter hosted within the web architecture of a governing federation. The most common URL naming structure combined host city and event year in a stand-alone domain. Major sport event organizers can use insights from this research to reposition their websites as comprehensive hubs integrating multimedia, enriching narratives and regularly updated media resources, all optimized for mobile users and cross-platform consistency.
Ključne riječi
digital communication; major sporting events; websites; media relations; content analysis.
Hrčak ID:
352208
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.6.2026.
Posjeta: 0 *