Footy season is back and so is the battle for the social media fan!
The AFL has the early lead just topping the magical 1 Million social media fan mark with the NRL closing in on 1 Million fans. Interesting to note the AFL fans have taken to Twitter with twice as many tweeps than the NRL. Getting numbers in social media is the first step, engaging and maintaining interest with those fans is the far more important step. Facebook does not publish the Monthly Engagement numbers, it is these numbers that are far more important to measure success on Facebook. A highly engaged fan base is a MUST, especially given the latest raft of changes on Facebook.
Rankings from SportsFanGraph
As of 8th March 2011 – Updates & Notes below from Sports Geek
| # | Team/League |  |
 |
Total | ||
| 1 | Australian Football League | 22,049 | |
273,299 | |
295,348 |
| 2 | National Rugby League | 13,413 | |
270,663 | |
284,076 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos | 5,840 | |
138,263 | |
144,103 |
| 4 | Collingwood Football Club | 11,821 | |
113,205 | |
125,026 |
| 5 | Essendon Football Club | 9,091 | |
104,372 | |
113,463 |
| 6 | Adelaide Football Club | 7,801 | |
63,755 | |
71,556 |
| 7 | St. Kilda Football Club | 7,104 | |
62,344 | |
69,448 |
| 8 | West Coast Eagles | 3,602 | |
65,427 | |
69,029 |
| 9 | Carlton Football Club | 7,063 | |
59,345 | |
66,408 |
| 10 | Gold Coast Titans | 4,591 | |
57,734 | |
62,325 |
| 11 | Melbourne Storm | 3,654 | |
58,493 | |
62,147 |
| 12 | Sydney Swans | 7,563 | |
51,109 | |
58,672 |
| 13 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 2,141 | |
52,284 | |
54,425 |
| 14 | Wests Tigers | 3,801 | |
44,020 | |
47,821 |
| 15 | Richmond Football Club | 6,919 | |
35,659 | |
42,578 |
| 16 | Fremantle Football Club | 3,625 | |
36,287 | |
39,912 |
| 17 | Hawthorn Football Club | 5,024 | |
34,476 | |
39,500 |
| 18 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 2,638 | |
35,497 | |
38,135 |
| 19 | Sydney Roosters | 1,743 | |
33,551 | |
35,294 |
| 20 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 2,798 | |
29,595 | |
32,393 |
| 21 | Port Adelaide Football Club | 3,299 | |
24,958 | |
28,257 |
| 22 * | Newcastle Knights | 0 | 27,995 | |
27,995 | |
| 23 | North Melbourne Football Club | 5,725 | |
21,945 | |
27,670 |
| 24 | Western Bulldogs | 2,840 | |
24,130 | |
26,970 |
| 25 * | Brisbane Lions | 0 | 23,435 | |
23,435 | |
| 26 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 1,432 | |
19,892 | |
21,324 |
| 27 | Gold Coast Football Club | 4,260 | |
12,379 | |
16,639 |
| 28 | Melbourne Football Club | 3,963 | |
12,607 | |
16,570 |
| 29 | Penrith Panthers | 0 | 16,233 | |
16,233 | |
| 30 * | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 3,610 | |
8,796 | |
12,406 |
| 31 * | Geelong Football Club | 4,226 | |
7,456 | |
11,682 |
| 32 | North Queensland Cowboys | 695 | |
8284 | |
8979 |
| 33 | New Zealand Warriors | 0 | 8699 | |
8699 | |
| 34 | Parramatta Eels | 2761 | |
4451 | |
7212 |
| 35 | Greater Western Sydney Giants | 2406 | |
1914 | |
4320 |
| 36 * | Canberra Raiders | 1742 | |
0 | 1742 |
* Updates from Sports Geek
South Sydney Rabbitohs have moved
Facebook page has changed now available here – http://facebook.com/southsydney (36,476 likes)
Updated Total 40,086
Newcastle Knights are tweeting
Newcastle Knights are on Twitter (@NRL_Knights – 721 followers)
Updated Total 28,716
Brisbane Lions getting started in social media
Brisbane Lions are on Twitter (@brisbanelions -1155 followers) but not officially on Facebook.
Updated Total 1155
Cats Insider only for Twitter
Geelong Cats are transitioning to a new Facebook Page – http://www.facebook.com/Geelong.Cats (4687 likes)
Updated Total 8,913
Raiders on Facebook
Canberra Raiders are on Facebook (7112 likes) it is just hard to tell from Raiders.com.au.
Updated Total 8,854
