SCCC Comes out Top as the UK’s Best Sports Club on Social Media

Research carried out by search marketing agency, Red Hot Penny, has revealed that Somerset County Cricket Club have the most engaged following, beating football clubs such as Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur.

Across the UK, 80 professional sports teams spanning football, rugby, cricket, basketball, and ice hockey had their social media channels analysed to find out how they’re using the platform as a marketing tool.

Red Hot Penny published this information in a report titled “Social Scorecard: Sport”, which breaks down social media channels across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and gives the clubs an overall score based on number of followers, average post engagement, and overall engagement rate.

Cricket club takes the top spot

After combining all the scores from the individual analysis breakdown such as total followers, engagement rate, and performance for each channel (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), a unique score out of a potential 100 was found for every club in the study.

The highest overall score went to Somerset County Cricket Club, with a score of 82% out of a possible 100%. This is largely due to their strong engagement rates on Facebook and Instagram – their Instagram account had an average engagement rate of 70%, trouncing 2nd place Celtic whose Instagram engagement was just 3.9%.

Essex and Yorkshire, who scored 69 and 60 respectively, were the second and third highest scoring cricket clubs in the overall score table.

Commenting on their table topping score, Sarah Trunks, Strategy Director at Somerset County Cricket Club said: “These results are a true testament to the hard work of our Marketing team and the engagement statistics are particularly pleasing. As with most things, the way cricket is being consumed is changing and social media provides the perfect outlet for content, allowing fans from both near and far to stay connected to the Club”.

Ben Warren, SCCC Digital Marketing & Communications Executive said: “Obviously we were delighted when we saw the published results. Whilst we don’t have the resources of a major football team, we have a really committed fan base here in Somerset and we are very grateful for all the support we receive. We are determined to provide the best possible digital experience for Somerset fans and have a great team here to help us achieve this.”

David Schulhof, CEO of Red Hot Penny said: “This study has unveiled some huge opportunities for the nation’s top sports clubs, showing the massive potential they have to grow and develop. Sports clubs are a hub of opportunity, filled with influencers, exciting events, and news. We want to see these opportunities seized, and hope that our research has highlighted ways for clubs across the nation to improve their social media strategies”

Big-budget teams didn’t fare well

Lower scoring clubs included big-budget names such as Man United, Newcastle United and Saracens, all with total scores of 62.125 and less. This was mostly down to Facebook statistics for average post engagement and engagement rate.

The full report is available to download here.