The Big Game has come and gone with the New England Patriots as the victors, but does a win on the field equal a win on Twitter? Social media tracking firm Encore Alert set out to find out which NFL teams perform the best on Twitter – and why those teams stand out ahead.
NFL teams have typically have around 13.2 million Twitter followers. Encore Alert set out to see if the NFL teams with the best Twitter following were congruent with teams with the biggest market, the most wins, or if it was more about the marketing team behind the Twitter account. The findings might surprise you – read on to see key takeaways from Encore Alert’s NFL Twitter study.
1. Bigger markets doesn’t equal better marketing
One might think that the NFL teams with the biggest markets would have the biggest following, but when broken down per 100 residents that idea doesn’t hold up. In fact, the team with the most Twitter followers – 40.2 per 100 residents – was the Green Bay Packers – a team with one of the smallest populations. The loyal Twitter following could be attributed to a solid strategy versus more fans in general.
2. Winning on the field doesn’t equal Twitter success
While it seems natural that winning teams would see more Twitter activity, the research didn’t support that claim. In fact there’s only a minor positive correlation between winning teams and Twitter follower count – just a 0.47 correlation coefficient. The findings seem to suggest there’s much more to Twitter success than a winning record.
3. Some teams are missing big opportunities
The difference between the top team on Twitter – the Green Bay Packers – and the bottom – Arizona Cardinals – is a big gap. The Packers have 36.9 more followers per 100 residents than Arizona. That’s nearly 37% of Arizona’s resident population the team is missing out on. Closing that gap could be a huge help to the team’s marketing on the whole, not even just on Twitter.
4. Overlapping markets have no effect on following
One might consider that teams with overlapping populations might have similar Twitter follower patterns. Encore Alert’s study showed no correlation between teams that shared a market. For example, the New York Giants and New York Jets both happen to land in the bottom five in followers, but Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers had much more varied numbers.
5. The Super Bowl matchup is a close game on Twitter
Despite New England having nearly twice as many residents in the area, the Seattle Seahawks are keeping up on fan followers. In fact, Seattle actually has slightly more followers per 100 residents at 15.8 versus New England’s 13.2. Seattle isn’t too far behind New England in total followers either – Seattle comes in with 787k while New England sits at just over 1 million.
