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The American Social Media Championships
In generations gone by, the only way to truly lend your support to a sporting franchise was by being in attendance or watching your beloved stars on a television screen. Fast forward to today and there has been something of a technological revolution.
A revolution that has come in the shape of social media and with these platforms allowing supporters to follow every digital move their favourite franchise makes, fandom is no longer just a physical presence.
While with the likes of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter collecting plenty of clicks and likes, it is also helping some of the biggest sports brands get their message across and what better way to get your message across, than by doing it in many different languages.
With social media removing so many geographical barriers, you no longer need to live in the same state as the Los Angeles Lakers or the Dallas Cowboys to get a glimpse of your idols, now you can show your gratitude in London, Lagos, or even Lima.
Which means it is time for another of our data-driven deep dives and this time we are going to analyse which franchise has generated the most social media followers. While although there will be outright winners, there will also be individual awards for each sport.
THE BEST OF THE BEST
Before we hand out the individual accolades, we are going to focus on the very best in the social media business and when we account for all the American franchises in the big five leagues – NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and MLS, these are our findings.
| Sport | League | Club | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basketball | NBA | LA Lakers | 21,000,000 | 20,100,000 | 10,900,000 | 52,000,000 |
| Basketball | NBA | Golden State Warriors | 11,000,000 | 25,200,000 | 7,700,000 | 43,900,000 |
| Basketball | NBA | Chicago Bulls | 16,000,000 | 8,400,000 | 4,600,000 | 29,000,000 |
| Basketball | NBA | Miami Heat | 14,000,000 | 5,800,000 | 5,000,000 | 24,800,000 |
| Basketball | NBA | Cleveland Cavaliers | 7,900,000 | 12,900,000 | 3,300,000 | 24,100,000 |
| Basketball | NBA | Houston Rockets | 15,000,000 | 5,700,000 | 3,200,000 | 23,900,000 |
| Basketball | NBA | Boston Celtics | 8,600,000 | 6,600,000 | 3,900,000 | 19,100,000 |
| American Football | NFL | Dallas Cowboys | 8,300,000 | 4,100,000 | 4,200,000 | 16,600,000 |
| American Football | NFL | New England Patriots | 6,600,000 | 4,700,000 | 4,600,000 | 15,900,000 |
| Baseball | MLB | New York Yankees | 8,200,000 | 3,000,000 | 3,700,000 | 14,900,000 |
At the top of the overall table, it is none other than the Los Angeles Lakers and with a combined 52m social media followers, the Basketball institution has a lead of 8.1m over the Golden State Warriors in second.
While the home of Lebron James has amassed this lead by coming out on top in each of the three metrics and with more than 20m followers on both Facebook and Instagram respectively, this franchise is certainly ready for the metaverse.
However, the Lakers are not the most dominant force when it comes to the Instagram game and with the Golden State Warriors having an army of more than 25m followers on this platform alone, they at least have some reason to celebrate.
A celebration that sees Steph Curry and his colleagues go some 14.9m combined followers clear of the Chicago Bulls in third and although the days of Michael Jordan are long since behind them, they can still be considered one of the powerhouses of the sporting social environment.
The same could be said for the NBA as a whole and with the top seven berths in our overall table being filled by a team that shoots hoops for a living, you have to go to the Dallas Cowboys in eighth to break their dynasty.
The Cowboys are one of two NFL franchises to make the top 10 overall and it seems there is a rather frenetic battle between themselves and the New England Patriots – with just 700,000 combined followers acting as the difference.
With the Cowboys winning the first down on the Facebook field, the Patriots have come out on top when it comes to Twitter and Instagram and if either side has success in the latest edition of the Super Bowl, the social landscape in the NFL could change considerably.
Rounding out the top 10, is our first offering from the world of baseball and with the New York Yankees having a strong Facebook following of 8.2m, it is only their Instagram and Twitter numbers by comparison that let them down slightly.
THE GRIDIRON
| Sport | League | Club | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Football | NFL | Dallas Cowboys | 8,300,000 | 4,100,000 | 4,200,000 | 16,600,000 |
| American Football | NFL | New England Patriots | 6,600,000 | 4,700,000 | 4,600,000 | 15,900,000 |
| American Football | NFL | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5,900,000 | 3,200,000 | 3,700,000 | 12,800,000 |
| American Football | NFL | Green Bay Packers | 5,100,000 | 2,500,000 | 2,500,000 | 10,100,000 |
| American Football | NFL | Seattle Seahawks | 3,700,000 | 3,000,000 | 2,500,000 | 9,200,000 |
Now we are going to look at each sport individually and see who the pacesetters are when it comes to a social media championship charge. First up, we will look at the NFL and as you can see here, it is a confirmation of the prowess that was previously shown by the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots.
Which means we will now focus on third place instead and this honour is currently bestowed to the Pittsburgh Steelers. With 12.8m combined social followers, they have a comfortable distance between themselves and the Green Bay Packers in fourth.
A distance that currently stands at 2.7m and with 10.1m followers overall, they have managed to keep the Seattle Seahawks at arm’s length. However, it must be noted that the Seahawks have matched the Packers when it comes to Twitter and beaten them when it comes to Instagram.
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME
| Sport | League | Club | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseball | MLB | New York Yankees | 8,200,000 | 3,000,000 | 3,700,000 | 14,900,000 |
| Baseball | MLB | Boston Red Sox | 5,000,000 | 2,100,000 | 2,200,000 | 9,300,000 |
| Baseball | MLB | Los Angeles Dodgers | 3,400,000 | 3,000,000 | 2,400,000 | 8,800,000 |
| Baseball | MLB | Chicago Cubs | 3,200,000 | 1,700,000 | 2,600,000 | 7,500,000 |
| Baseball | MLB | San Francisco Giants | 2,800,000 | 1,400,000 | 1,700,000 | 5,900,000 |
Now we will focus on Baseball and with the New York Yankees finding themselves in the top 10 overall, it is perhaps no surprise that they also find themselves as winners when handing out the MLB awards.
Their current total of 14.9m combined followers, is some 5.6m more than that of the Boston Red Sox and with the New England-based franchise only 0.5m ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers, there seems to be quite the digital rivalry forming.
With the Red Sox winning the first innings on Facebook, they have subsequently been beaten at the bottom of the second and third when it comes to Instagram and Twitter and if the Dodgers can enhance their social media team, they could soon move into second when it comes to MLB.
The top three being locked out, means that the Chicago Cubs have to settle for fourth and with a total of over 7.5m combined social followers, their legion of online support is 1.6m more than that of the San Francisco Giants.
HOOP DREAMS
| Sport | League | Club | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basketball | NBA | LA Lakers | 21,000,000 | 20,100,000 | 10,900,000 | 52,000,000 |
| Basketball | NBA | Golden State Warriors | 11,000,000 | 25,200,000 | 7,700,000 | 43,900,000 |
| Basketball | NBA | Chicago Bulls | 16,000,000 | 8,400,000 | 4,600,000 | 29,000,000 |
| Basketball | NBA | Miami Heat | 14,000,000 | 5,800,000 | 5,000,000 | 24,800,000 |
| Basketball | NBA | Cleveland Cavaliers | 7,900,000 | 12,900,000 | 3,300,000 | 24,100,000 |
Moving to the basketball court and here we can see a carbon copy of the top 10 overall franchises and with us already referencing the top three, we can instead focus on the teams that have secured fourth and fifth.
While there is not a great deal of difference between the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers and although the latter have collected a rather impressive 24.1m followers, the former have trumped this by collecting 24.8m followers of their own.
What is interesting here, is the demographic difference between the two and although the Miami Heat are particularly strong when it comes to gaining Facebook followers - 14m to be precise, it is Instagram where the Cleveland Cavaliers have said hello to 12.9m new supporters.
PUCKING ABOUT
| Sport | League | Club | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hockey | NHL | Chicago Blackhawks | 2,600,000 | 1,600,000 | 2,400,000 | 6,600,000 |
| Hockey | NHL | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1,900,000 | 2,300,000 | 1,800,000 | 6,000,000 |
| Hockey | NHL | Boston Bruins | 2,100,000 | 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 | 5,100,000 |
| Hockey | NHL | New York Rangers | 1,400,000 | 1,200,000 | 1,400,000 | 4,000,000 |
| Hockey | NHL | Detroit Red Wings | 1,900,000 | 832,000 | 1,200,000 | 3,932,000 |
Now it is time to get our skates on, as we focus on the social followings throughout the NHL. With no franchise finding themselves in the top 10 overall table, this will be our first look at how strong these online armies are.
Sitting top of the ice shop is none other than the Chicago Blackhawks and with a total of 6.6m combined social followers, they currently possess a 0.6m advantage over the Pittsburgh Penguins in second.
Although the Blackhawks won the Facebook and Twitter periods with 2.6m and 2.4m followers respectively, the Penguins managed to earn themselves a consolation prize when it came to possessing more Instagram followers (2.3m).
Up next in the NHL charts are the Boston Bruins and with a total of 5.1m followers under their belt, they find themselves 1.1m clear of the New York Rangers in fourth. While the Rangers have just pushed out the Detroit Red Wings into fifth.
After taking an early advantage in the Facebook wars, the Detroit Red Wings subsequently lost out when it came to the Instagram and Twitter counts and therefore, they are just 68,000 followers behind at the time of data capture.
THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
| Sport | League | Club | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soccer | MLS | LA Galaxy | 2,200,000 | 1,400,000 | 535,500 | 4,135,500 |
| Soccer | MLS | New York City FC | 2,100,000 | 759,000 | 403,900 | 3,262,900 |
| Soccer | MLS | Atlanta United FC | 329,000 | 505,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,834,000 |
| Soccer | MLS | Seattle Sounders FC | 748,000 | 357,000 | 580,400 | 1,685,400 |
| Soccer | MLS | Los Angeles FC | 593,000 | 672,000 | 306,600 | 1,571,600 |
Next up, we go to the soccer field and focus on the MLS franchises that are most successful when it comes to capturing social media followers. An accolade that in this instance, is passed on to the Los Angeles Galaxy.
With over 4.1m combined social followers to their name, the former home of both David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic find themselves with nearly a 900,000-follower lead at the top – a margin that sees New York City FC currently reside in second.
With the member of the City Football Group just missing out in terms of top Facebook followers in the MLS, there is still some work to do when it comes to matching the LA Galaxy in both the Instagram and Twitter realms.
However, New York City FC still find themselves some distance clear of the MLS pretenders and with a three-way battle for third seemingly emanating, it is Atlanta United FC who have just managed to edge out both the Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles FC.
With less than 300,000 combined followers separating the three franchises, there could certainly be some ebb and flow and if we were to revisit this article further down the line, there is every chance the positions could change.
A CERTAIN RATIO
Another way to look at all this social data, is by looking at how the combined number of followers correlates to the stadium or arena that the respective franchises play in and the best way to do this, is by using a capacity ratio.
Which means we are now going to take all the separate social counts and divide it by the attendance of each franchises’ home ground. While after carrying out such an equation, our table looks as follows:
| Sport | League | Club | Total | Capacity | Attendance Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basketball | NBA | LA Lakers | 52,000,000 | 20,000 | 2,600 |
| Basketball | NBA | Golden State Warriors | 43,900,000 | 18,000 | 2,439 |
| Basketball | NBA | Chicago Bulls | 29,000,000 | 21,000 | 1,381 |
| Basketball | NBA | Houston Rockets | 23,900,000 | 18,300 | 1,306 |
| Basketball | NBA | Miami Heat | 24,800,000 | 21,000 | 1,181 |
| Basketball | NBA | Cleveland Cavaliers | 24,100,000 | 20,500 | 1,176 |
| Basketball | NBA | Boston Celtics | 19,100,000 | 19,500 | 979 |
| Basketball | NBA | Oklahoma City Thunder | 14,500,000 | 18,200 | 797 |
| Basketball | NBA | San Antonio Spurs | 14,200,000 | 18,500 | 768 |
| Basketball | NBA | Sacramento Kings | 10,300,000 | 17,600 | 585 |
| Basketball | NBA | New York Knicks | 11,200,000 | 20,700 | 541 |
| Basketball | NBA | Brooklyn Nets | 9,000,000 | 17,700 | 508 |
| Basketball | NBA | Milwaukee Bucks | 8,600,000 | 17,300 | 497 |
| Basketball | NBA | LA Clippers | 9,900,000 | 20,000 | 495 |
| Basketball | NBA | Dallas Mavericks | 9,300,000 | 20,000 | 465 |
| Basketball | NBA | Washington Wizards | 7,600,000 | 20,300 | 374 |
| Basketball | NBA | Philadelphia 76ers | 7,300,000 | 19,500 | 374 |
| Basketball | NBA | Indiana Pacers | 6,700,000 | 20,000 | 335 |
| Basketball | NBA | Phoenix Suns | 6,000,000 | 18,400 | 326 |
| Basketball | NBA | Portland Trail Blazers | 6,400,000 | 19,900 | 322 |
| Baseball | MLB | New York Yankees | 14,900,000 | 47,309 | 315 |
As you can see it is a complete lockout of the top 20 by basketball franchises and after winning the overall award, the Los Angeles Lakers can also command the highest attendance ratio for their 52m combined social followers.
With the Crypto.com Arena having a capacity of just 20,000, it means they could fill this 2,600 time over and the reason why Basketball has a monopoly over the top 20 in this list, is because their large social followers and combined with smaller venue sizes.
To add some further context, we will compare the Los Angeles Lakers attendance ratio with the highest in each of the other four sports:
| Sport | League | Club | Total | Capacity | Attendance Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basketball | NBA | LA Lakers | 52,000,000 | 20,000 | 2600.00 |
| Baseball | MLB | New York Yankees | 14,900,000 | 47,309 | 314.95 |
| Hockey | NHL | Pittsburgh Penguins | 6,000,000 | 19,700 | 304.57 |
| American Football | NFL | New England Patriots | 15,900,000 | 65,878 | 241.36 |
| Soccer | MLS | Los Angeles FC | 1,571,600 | 22,000 | 71.44 |
As you can see the Los Angeles Lakers attendance ratio dwarves the representatives of each of the other four sports. While the New York Yankees are the best that baseball has to offer with an attendance ratio of 314.95.
A value that just edges out the top ratio in the NHL and with the Pittsburgh Penguins having 6m combined social followers in a venue that hosts 19,700 fans, it means they have an attendance ratio of 304.57.
Which is still a considerable amount more than the New England Patriots and although they possess 15m combined social followers, they have a capacity of 65,878 at the Gillette Stadium. Therefore, their attendance ratio is only 241.36 by comparison.
Not to forget soccer that brings up the rear and although Los Angeles FC can command a bigger attendance than their sporting cousins at the top of these standings, their 1.5m combined followers only generate a ratio of 71.44.
Data correct as of September 2022.
