The power of mobile will undoubtedly increase the number of people able to watch the series and when Sky announced that fans could watch matches live on the Sky Go app, posts related to the Ashes increased by 146% from just 10% previously.
Adobe Digital Index, which analysed social media mentions about the Ashes from blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and several other sites, also found that Australia is the favourite to win.
Australia may have the fans thinking they will win, but they don’t have the most popular players, with Joe Root and Jimmy Anderson claiming the top spots and David Warner coming third.
The surprise call-up of Mark Footit played a significant role in increasing social media mentions for England. The social buzz increased by 48% due to the call-up.
Australia fans are displaying slightly higher levels of joy and admiration to their team, with 56% compared to 52% for England.
Of course, all sports fans are armchair experts, but it will be interesting to monitor social media during the test series to see how support and popularity changes.
