VideoThe 11 Most Popular Sports Teams in the World in Social Video [Report]

The 11 Most Popular Sports Teams in the World in Social Video [Report]

A report from Be On analyzed the video reach and engagement of major sports teams across the world. Teams from five different sports represented – cricket, Formula 1 Racing, NFL, NBA and soccer, with the top five spots taken by soccer clubs.

Most Popular Sports Teams in the WorldEveryone has their favorite sports team, whether it’s the Philadelphia Flyers, Hull City, or the Northern Virginia Majestics (U12). In the past on SEW we’ve taken a look at social media as it applies to specific sports such as the NFL, but we’ve not looked across all of sports to see if we could pick a winner. Until now.

Be On, a division of AOL (Disclaimer: the author’s employer), has released a report that analyzed the video reach and engagement of major sports teams across the world “using its Social Video Equity (SVE)formula, which scores brands across multiple criteria including volume of content, number of views, engagement, creativity and overall quality of video on owned and social channels. Be On selected teams based on their existing online video strategies, net worth and fan base, and evaluated content uploaded to YouTube, Facebook and owned websites over the last 12 months.”

Interestingly in the top 11 there were teams from five different sports represented – cricket (yes, it’s a sport), Formula 1 Racing, NFL, NBA and soccer, with the top five spots taken by soccer clubs.

So in reverse order, here are the top 11 global sports teams in social video, according to Be On.

  • Boston Celtics (NBA)
  • Cricket Australia
  • Red Bull Racing (Formula 1)
  • Dallas Cowboys (NFL)
  • LA Lakers (NBA)
  • Ferrari F1 (Formula 1)
  • Chelsea (English Premier League Soccer)
  • Galatasaray (Turkish Super Lig Soccer)
  • Manchester City (English Premier League Soccer)
  • FC Barcelona (Spanish Liga BBVA Soccer)
  • Real Madrid (Spanish Liga BBVA Soccer)

Key Research Findings

Celebrities – If You’ve Got Them, Flaunt Them

With sports teams you have built in celebrities, fans want to know what Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel is up to, or watch a video starring Real Madrid’s Christiano Ronaldo, but that doesn’t have to be the only tactic they use. Teams can also pull in other celebrities / celebrity fans to help increase their account views. The highest viewed video on the Boston Celtics account featured actress Maria Menounos.

Don’t Complicate Things

Many of the sports teams with a global reach place their content into a single channel regardless of the language it’s presented in or targeted to, which isn’t what many multinational companies do.

Give Them What They Want

Sports teams frequently reward their fans with behind the scenes videos or the unveiling of a new car / player. In other words, content that is of interest to them, that they want to watch.

Have Fun and Follow the Latest Trends

Yes, this is an excuse to link to yet another Harlem Shake video, but given that this video received over 8.6 million views since it was released near the start of the trend in February, that’s not too shabby.

Especially when you consider that the follow up – “Making of” video also received over a million views.

If you’d like to see more of the data, Be On also released an infographic to go along with the study.

Most Popular Sports Teams in the World

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