MLB social

Nationals, Blue Jays Lead MLB Clubs In Facebook, Twitter Gains For '12 Season

By Ryan Baucom, Associate Editor, SportsBusiness Journal

Published May 31, 2012

With two months of the MLB season completed, a few trends appear upon inspection of the social media numbers for each club, according to an analysis of Facebook likes and Twitter followers. Unexpected success plays a major role in the high percentage changes found in teams that are exceeding expectations on the field including the Nationals, Blue Jays, Marlins, Dodgers and Orioles. This success does not always crossover though, as the White Sox have not seen their division-leading success materialize in a significant bump. MLB itself is also seeing a 13.5% increase for its combined Facebook/Twitter figures to date. Popular, large-payroll teams such as the Phillies and Red Sox that have been struggling in the standings have seen sluggish social media gains for the first time since SportsBusiness Daily/Journal began tracking social media numbers in March '11. The Red Sox and Yankees remain the only two MLB clubs with over two million social media followers. Listed below are combined Facebook likes and Twitter followers for MLB teams’ official pages/feeds on March 30 compared to May 30.

	------ MARCH 30 ------			------ MAY 30 ------
TEAM	FB	TW	TOTALS	FB	TW	TOTALS	% +/-
Nationals	136,806	29,317	166,123	154,202	44,942	199,144	19.9%
Blue Jays	400,159	95,368	495,527	434,048	139,775	573,823	15.8%
MLB	1,099,360	1,875,220	2,974,580	1,276,041	2,101,073	3,377,114	13.5%
Marlins	239,553	31,213	270,766	259,406	47,026	306,432	13.2%
Dodgers	949,662	99,148	1,048,810	1,039,960	131,362	1,171,322	11.7%
Orioles	343,393	36,580	379,973	366,556	54,186	420,742	10.7%
Rangers	1,210,451	124,413	1,334,864	1,304,835	162,948	1,467,783	10.0%
D'Backs	234,871	32,335	267,206	252,378	41,304	293,682	9.9%
Angels	440,633	43,751	484,384	475,050	56,403	531,453	9.7%
Pirates	311,781	35,791	347,572	330,984	50,188	381,172	9.7%
Reds	519,008	74,339	593,347	549,609	97,959	647,568	9.1%
Tigers	951,689	77,895	1,029,584	1,008,204	109,941	1,118,145	8.6%
Braves	1,084,752	139,544	1,224,296	1,147,908	179,286	1,327,194	8.4%
Mets	544,870	75,181	620,051	572,913	98,994	671,907	8.4%
Royals	279,019	44,845	323,864	289,764	56,669	346,433	7.0%
Indians	501,753	46,062	547,815	522,593	62,861	585,454	6.9%
Rays	403,592	49,329	452,921	420,993	61,513	482,506	6.5%
Yankees	5,321,616	549,663	5,871,279	5,622,627	619,217	6,241,844	6.3%
Rockies	443,660	33,755	477,415	463,045	44,182	507,227	6.2%
Cardinals	1,218,606	118,224	1,336,830	1,272,036	145,985	1,418,021	6.1%
Cubs	1,572,433	101,540	1,673,973	1,640,265	132,149	1,772,414	5.9%
White Sox	848,831	50,333	899,164	885,217	67,240	952,457	5.9%
Giants	1,361,720	234,353	1,596,073	1,431,801	257,295	1,689,096	5.8%
Mariners	473,180	43,694	516,874	491,889	54,891	546,780	5.8%
Brewers	562,106	63,546	625,652	583,915	76,735	660,650	5.6%
A's	303,928	38,713	342,641	313,954	47,807	361,761	5.6%
Astros	402,685	27,014	429,699	416,573	36,208	452,781	5.4%
Padres	364,255	32,131	396,386	376,764	40,120	416,884	5.2%
Red Sox	3,483,436	219,629	3,703,065	3,607,247	271,298	3,878,545	4.7%
Twins	738,993	67,772	806,765	760,423	84,100	844,523	4.7%
Phillies	1,170,683	678,403	1,849,086	1,210,144	693,022	1,903,166	2.9%