Which NBA Teams Have Seen the Most Growth on Twitter and Facebook?

Last year I did a couple of posts on the reach and engagement of NBA teams on Twitter and Facebook. Yesterday Yago Colás came across one and shared it with the students in his Cultures of Basketball course.

The students thought it was an interesting concept and one of them, Blake McLimans, pulled updated numbers for all of the teams.

Since it has been a year since my original post I thought I’d use Blake’s figures to look at the growth percentages for all of the teams.

These figures are accurate as of January, 26, 2011.

Twitter

First the official Twitter profiles. Here are the most followed NBA teams as of yesterday:

		Twitter followers January 2011	Twitter followers January 2010	Increase
1	Los Angeles Lakers	1,781,763	1,415,871	26%
2	Orlando Magic	1,038,079	983,232	6%
3	Boston Celtics	113,820	25,605	345%
4	Miami Heat	94,581	13,870	582%
5	Chicago Bulls	70,415	26,161	169%
6	Cleveland Cavaliers	59,988	33,445	79%
7	New York Knicks	55,479	14,395	285%
8	Phoenix Suns	51,473	21,896	135%
9	San Antonio Spurs	44,123	19,901	122%
10	Denver Nuggets	37,918	15,188	150%
11	Houston Rockets	37,052	20,195	83%
12	Dallas Mavericks	33,678	15,817	113%
13	Utah Jazz	29,194	11,785	148%
14	New Jersey Nets	28,963	4,945	486%
15	Oklahoma City Thunder	27,417	8,911	208%
16	Los Angeles Clippers	26,167	13,531	93%
17	Portland Trail Blazers	25,793	14,684	76%
18	Toronto Raptors	24,226	5,605	332%
19	Philadelphia 76ers	23,667	12,048	96%
20	Detroit Pistons	21,303	9,537	123%
21	New Orleans Hornets	20,700	8,459	145%
22	Sacramento Kings	20,600	10,798	91%
23	Washington Wizards	19,571	6,787	188%
24	Milwaukee Bucks	18,897	7,089	167%
25	Golden State Warriors	18,496	2,655	597%
26	Atlanta Hawks	18,468	8,170	126%
27	Memphis Grizzlies	18,403	7,062	161%
28	Indiana Pacers	17,349	7,204	141%
29	Charlotte Bobcats	16,571	5,502	201%
30	Minnesota Timberwolves	15,028	6,554	129%

A year later the Lakers and Magic are still the top two teams. Boston moves up a spot to #3 and not surprisingly the Heat jump from #15 to #5.

Here are the NBA Twitter profiles ranked by percentage increase since last year:

		Twitter followers January 2011	Twitter followers January 2010	Increase
1	Golden State Warriors	18,496	2,655	597%
2	Miami Heat	94,581	13,870	582%
3	New Jersey Nets	28,963	4,945	486%
4	Boston Celtics	113,820	25,605	345%
5	Toronto Raptors	24,226	5,605	332%
6	New York Knicks	55,479	14,395	285%
7	Oklahoma City Thunder	27,417	8,911	208%
8	Charlotte Bobcats	16,571	5,502	201%
9	Washington Wizards	19,571	6,787	188%
10	Chicago Bulls	70,415	26,161	169%
11	Milwaukee Bucks	18,897	7,089	167%
12	Memphis Grizzlies	18,403	7,062	161%
13	Denver Nuggets	37,918	15,188	150%
14	Utah Jazz	29,194	11,785	148%
15	New Orleans Hornets	20,700	8,459	145%
16	Indiana Pacers	17,349	7,204	141%
17	Phoenix Suns	51,473	21,896	135%
18	Minnesota Timberwolves	15,028	6,554	129%
19	Atlanta Hawks	18,468	8,170	126%
20	Detroit Pistons	21,303	9,537	123%
21	San Antonio Spurs	44,123	19,901	122%
22	Dallas Mavericks	33,678	15,817	113%
23	Philadelphia 76ers	23,667	12,048	96%
24	Los Angeles Clippers	26,167	13,531	93%
25	Sacramento Kings	20,600	10,798	91%
26	Houston Rockets	37,052	20,195	83%
27	Cleveland Cavaliers	59,988	33,445	79%
28	Portland Trail Blazers	25,793	14,684	76%
29	Los Angeles Lakers	1,781,763	1,415,871	26%
30	Orlando Magic	1,038,079	983,232	6%

I figured Miami and would have the highest growth percentage and they almost do, coming in 2nd with a massive 582% increase. Golden State has actually seen the most growth, but despite a 597% increase they are still #26 in total followers.

Facebook

As for Facebook, here are the most popular official team pages:

		Facebook likes January 2011	Facebook likes January 2010	Increase
1	Los Angeles Lakers	5,613,821	657,007	26%
2	Boston Celtics	2,921,415	481,879	345%
3	Chicago Bulls	1,082,236	155,827	169%
4	Miami Heat	1,080,032	599	582%
5	Cleveland Cavaliers	593,569	166,021	79%
6	Orlando Magic	540,170	85,265	6%
7	Denver Nuggets	422,633	87,300	384%
8	Dallas Mavericks	420,241	72,015	113%
9	San Antonio Spurs	390,090	90,550	122%
10	New York Knicks	381,545	43,972	285%
11	Phoenix Suns	301,636	64,976	135%
12	Oklahoma City Thunder	237,699	10,981	208%
13	Houston Rockets	228,744	81,535	83%
14	Portland Trail Blazers	200,223	65,801	76%
15	Utah Jazz	180,529	44,328	148%
16	Toronto Raptors	164,276	41,611	332%
17	Golden State Warriors	151,169	27,826	597%
18	Milwaukee Bucks	106,582	37,197	167%
19	Sacramento Kings	87,026	19,855	91%
20	Philadelphia 76ers	81,535	17,877	96%
21	Atlanta Hawks	69,659	11,893	126%
22	Detroit Pistons	63,851	7,854	123%
23	Indiana Pacers	59,083	14,760	141%
24	New Jersey Nets	59,046	10,361	486%
25	Minnesota Timberwolves	53,715	10,742	129%
26	Charlotte Bobcats	43,315	7,281	201%
27	Los Angeles Clippers	43,131	7,291	93%
28	Washington Wizards	41,844	13,579	188%
29	Memphis Grizzlies	39,043	6,793	161%
30	New Orleans Hornets	27,542	1,647	145%

One year on the Lakers and Celtics still have the most likes. The Bulls move up to #3 and the Heat jump from having the fewest likes of any team last year to being #4. The Cavs are hanging in there at #5 so there hasn’t been much abandonment by the fan base.

Here are the NBA team pages ranked by percentage increase since last year:

		Facebook likes January 2011	Facebook likes January 2010	Increase
1	Miami Heat	1,080,032	599	180206%
2	Oklahoma City Thunder	237,699	10,981	2065%
3	New Orleans Hornets	27,542	1,647	1572%
4	New York Knicks	381,545	43,972	768%
5	Los Angeles Lakers	5,613,821	657,007	754%
6	Detroit Pistons	63,851	7,854	713%
7	Chicago Bulls	1,082,236	155,827	595%
8	Orlando Magic	540,170	85,265	534%
9	Boston Celtics	2,921,415	481,879	506%
10	Charlotte Bobcats	43,315	7,281	495%
11	Los Angeles Clippers	43,131	7,291	492%
12	Atlanta Hawks	69,659	11,893	486%
13	Dallas Mavericks	420,241	72,015	484%
14	Memphis Grizzlies	39,043	6,793	475%
15	New Jersey Nets	59,046	10,361	470%
16	Golden State Warriors	151,169	27,826	443%
17	Minnesota Timberwolves	53,715	10,742	400%
18	Denver Nuggets	422,633	87,300	384%
19	Phoenix Suns	301,636	64,976	364%
20	Philadelphia 76ers	81,535	17,877	356%
21	Sacramento Kings	87,026	19,855	338%
22	San Antonio Spurs	390,090	90,550	331%
23	Utah Jazz	180,529	44,328	307%
24	Indiana Pacers	59,083	14,760	300%
25	Toronto Raptors	164,276	41,611	295%
26	Cleveland Cavaliers	593,569	166,021	258%
27	Washington Wizards	41,844	13,579	208%
28	Portland Trail Blazers	200,223	65,801	204%
29	Milwaukee Bucks	106,582	37,197	187%
30	Houston Rockets	228,744	81,535	181%

It’s no surprise that the Heat have seen the most growth. Since their official team page had only 599 likes at this time last year their jump to over a million likes brings with it a crazy percentage increase. Oklahoma City and New Orleans also saw very high growth.

Nearly all the teams saw greater growth on Facebook than Twitter which also makes sense given Facebook’s much large user base.