We’re just days away from Super Bowl. Check out which teams were the biggest on Facebook in January as we get closer to the epic semi-centennial match.
The most-watched television event of the year is upon us. Arguably the biggest event of the year for American sports, Super Bowl 50 will be one to watch both on and off the big screen, as teams and publishers make a push for fans’ attention on social.
To learn all the tricks to social media marketing, you’ll want to check out our collaborative guide to sports social. We paired up with Playbuzz to find the best insights for creating content that invigorates sports fans.
Onto the rankings. All of our data comes from Spike, our social signals tracking platform.
So which team absolutely dominated in January? The Denver Broncos swept the board for likes, shares, and comments. With almost 12 million total engagements in January, they had nearly double of the second place contender, the Pittsburgh Steelers (6.1 million). The New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, and Seattle Seahawks all had over 5 million engagements.
Of the divisional play-off teams, the Kansas City Chiefs were the only team not to make the top 10. The Raiders are likely there because of their place in the Pro Bowl, and the Redskins and Vikings for their own season triumphs.
Let’s get into some of the specific content and trends driving that engagement.
The Horse Awakens
The Denver Broncos triumphed over all teams for likes, shares, and comments in January, ranking first place to their Super Bowl rival, the Carolina Panthers’, fourth place.
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The Broncos’ top Facebook content was celebrating their win against the New England Patriots, and thus securing their spot in Super Bowl 50. The post had over 227,000 likes, nearly 118,000 shares, and 6,000 comments.
The post was the most liked and shared for the month of January, of all the teams’ Facebook content. The Broncos have appeared in the Super Bowl seven times, but have only won twice, in 1997 and 1998. Fans are eager to see their favorite team claim the ultimate victory again after 18 years.
The Carolina Panthers, the Broncos’ rival this year, had the second most-shared post, for their own victory that secured their Super Bowl spot.
Team Updates and Controversy Drove Comments
While again, the Denver Broncos had the most comments on their Facebook posts, they didn’t have the most-commented posts of January. The top three commented posts were from the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and San Francisco 49ers.
This Miami Dolphins post garnered over 14,000 comments. The content used Facebook Live to introduce Adam Gase as the new team head coach. The majority of the comments came during and shortly after the broadcast, as Dolphins fans flocked to discuss the change to their team with mixed emotions.
Another update that prompted discussion, the 49ers hiring Chip Kelly as the new head coach had nearly 9,000 comments. Team updates tend to promote engagement among diehard fans who consider themselves invested experts on their team.
Whereas the Broncos best content was discussing their win to make it to the Super Bowl, the second most-commented content of January was the other side of that. This Patriots post had over 9,500 comments of fans discussing the final outcome of the game against the Broncos.
The Patriots make a point to exude confidence as part of their brand voice, and that filtered down to their fans’ comments. The top comments on the post were equally gracious and sympathetic, saying thanks to the team for the great season and that they’re looking forward to next year.
Victorious Video
The top video on Facebook for the NFL teams placed 47th in our rankings of all Facebook content. The top content overall came from teams using branded photos of games’ final scores, which prompted engagement by ecstatic fans.
The top video was from the Denver Broncos again. It showed a view of the team’s stadium right before the playoff game against the Patriots. The entire stadium is awash in orange, an unanimous show of team pride. The video drove over 1.2 million views, with 89,000 likes, 20,000 shares, and 1,700 comments.
Fans love to be appreciated and feel like they’re part of what makes a difference to their team. This video showcased that support by showing how the fans all turned up in the team’s colors.
Ironically, the New England Patriots had the second most-engaging video, a pregame hype video from their January 15th game against the Kansas City Chiefs. It also had 1.2 million views. There were 68,000 likes, 29,000 shares, and 2,000 comments. The third most-engaging video was another pregame hype video from the Patriots.
It’s notable here that both the Broncos and Patriots used pregame videos that saw enormous engagement, showing that fans are turning to social media right before the game kicks off.
Who Produced the Most Content?
In no surprise here, the Denver Broncos again stole the show. With 657 posts to Facebook in January, they dwarfed the other frontrunners, the Arizona Cardinals (399) and the Seattle Seahawks (395).
More content creates more chances for fans to engage. The top ten teams had an average of 361, while the bottom ten only averaged less than half that number, 155.
But content has to be quality, as well, or provoke an emotional response in fans. Despite having our lowest article count at 83, the Kansas City Chiefs were 12th in our rankings. Their highest-ranking content was for their 11-game winning streak, which saw huge pride from devoted fans. It had over 76,000 likes, 47,000 shares, and 2,600 comments.
Team victories, like winning streaks, produce a lot of engagement as fans feel like they’re part of a team’s historical moments.
Super Bowl Slam Time
With just days from the titular Super Bowl 50, social media is getting heated. Just looking on Spike for the past few days shows how the Panthers and Broncos are getting pumped on and off the field.
We’ll be watching that engagement up to, during, and after the big game. Watch along with us on Twitter, or subscribe to our newsletter for all the insights next week. We’ll be sure to note which teams and publishers use our best social tactics too.
So until next time, pick whether you’re going to cheer either orange/navy or black/blue, and enjoy the game.
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