Social media. Some people and franchises embrace it. Others wish it didn’t exist and don’t know how to contain or deal with it. Change has come through decades of news coverage and there are teams that love the challenge of keeping their fan bases informed and entertained. Proponents of podcasts scored extra points. There are others that would rather provide information that tastes like wire service copy — just the facts, strictly the facts. NFL teams treat their different accounts in different manners. Here’s a breakdown of the do’s, don’ts, best and the rest of the tweeters.
32. Green Bay Packers: 2.22 million followers
The 2.22 million followers of the Packers get the nuts and bolts … and not much else. There was a plethora of Aaron Rodgers golfing videos. Not sure what they do for the user other than to see that he is playing in a Pro-Am. There is some user engagement asking for input on favorite touchdowns but otherwise this account doesn’t stray from keeping things safe and sound. Like the team, nothing fancy but it gets the factual information across. Interesting team only follows 138 accounts.
31. Miami Dolphins: 985K
Interesting team has less than 1M followers. Love the work having some video interview in Spanish for the large local audience. That said, the account is as basic and bland as it comes. Still images with some text on them. Not much to learn about other than the new coaching staff, which is featured but everything else is basically pushed aside. Dolphins Daily is a nice concept. Also, would have liked to see the Miami Miracle pinned. With the way the season went, you could hold onto that until 2019 gets rolling in force.
30. San Francisco 49ers: 2.06M
The most clever part of the account is the 49 Hours presentation of the Senior Bowl meetings. Otherwise, some fundamental stuff is present but nothing out of the ordinary. Did also like the DeForest Buckner trip to Walt Disney World being followed. Would like to see more of that. Until the team turns it around expect to be fed plenty of George Kittle, the stellar TE.
29. New Orleans Saints
Pretty basic stuff. Pushed the anniversary of Super Bowl triumph sweetly. Have to wonder if at any point Gayle Benson’s letter was pinned. Played it safe on the non-call in NFC Championship. Nothing inflammatory. Sticks to basics and nothing too fancy. Pushes Pelicans, who have same ownership. Another team could use more video and hate to be redundant but a podcast would definitely improve content.
28. Washington Redskins: 1.25M
Ordinary content. Liked the one gallery of the rookie’s season. If you like cheerleaders, here’s another NFC East team that offers plenty of images. There’s not much to feed the appetite of a team’s fans that are always starving. Barely an appetizer.
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 734K
Bruce Arians has a big job on the field and the front office has a challenge to find a way to get more people socially engaged with the team. The pinned tweet is two weeks old pushing season tix. Someone doesn’t understand the challenge of staying fresh and keeping the audience intrigued and coming back. Simple tweet like the one from Feb. 7 that kicker Phillip Andersen from German League has signed begs for more info. People have to want to know more about a move like that … one would think.
26. Los Angeles Rams: 834K
Fascinating how few followers a team that played in the Super Bowl has. Los Angeles apathy? Some good video of players being interviewed. Interesting approach to different aspects of Super Bowl week. Sounds of the game extended video was strong. When the site was visited there had not been a tweet in double-digit hours, which was surprising. Another team that could use a podcast to push information, news and views.
25. Denver Broncos: 2.64M
The team has an enormous following. They must be getting most of their news and video views elsewhere. Because the Broncos’ site is vanilla, pushing the team and not diverting much to fancy and tasty material. Did appreciate the Post Malone tweet with Von Miller. If you can do that, you can do more.
24. Atlanta Falcons
Impressed the pinned tweet focuses on 2018 season and is honest in saying it wasn’t the season expected. Lots of Julio Jones. The wallpaper is a great touch and shows response to followers. Appreciate the way tribute was paid to Matt Bryant, who was cut. The tweet of the number three in shape of money is wonderful. Also, nice touch to pay tribute to Atlanta Braves legend Hank Aaron on 85th birthday. Would like to see a podcast and some more video. Making the best of a troubled season.
23. New York Giants
Big Blue has 1.81M followers, no further need to explain what team rules MetLife Stadium and the Big Apple. It is all Blue. There was a nice touch in retweeting the celebration of the Rangers’ 25th anniversary fete of the Stanley Cup team. So, they bring in the New York fan. Saquon Barkley is prominently and nicely featured. They showed some humor in responding to a tweet Bryce Harper had a meeting with the Giants by saying, “Wait, what happened?” Odell Beckham Jr. doesn’t get the visibility he attracts on and off the field, The fundamentals are covered. They don’t go deep too often. Could it be the need for a stronger arm calling signals?
22. Oakland Raiders: 1.59M
They are quick to point in the bio the team is a three-time Super Bowl champion. Good to remind everyone because it has been a long time between rings. The First Responders promo for AJ McCarron could have been pinned considering the lack of content that is being pushed. You have Jon Gruden, which means you should be able to move lots of information and entertain. The account doesn’t do much of it. Should step it up big time, especially with Vegas on the horizon.
21. Cincinnati Bengals: 824K
The account has become all-Zac Taylor, all the time. They must be trying to let people know the culture is changing with the coaching staff in Cincinnati. And the message is loud and clear. Everything about the former Rams assistant is in front of your eyes. If you are looking for information on the rest of the franchise, check back some time in the future.
20. Jacksonville Jaguars: 654K
Wow, the low of low in NFL account followers. Is it any wonder the Khans would not mind moving to London. Go across the pond the number could double or triple. At least the interest would. There must not be a ton to discuss yet in the offseason as the site is basic and does not inspire. Want to build more followers?
19. New York Jets: 1.21M
Intriguing that team in New York market has “only” 1.21M followers. That could be because of the franchise’s lack of success. The social team promotes a lot of the players’ birthdays. There was a nice job of pushing the Stephen Colbert/Sam Darnold video. Could do without only headsets as image on the tweet featuring the rest of Adam Gase’s staff. Had to be someone — Gregg Williams? — for the image. Sweet stuff on Kevin Mawae learning he was HOFer. With the limited choices of content, that would have been worth pinning.
18. Arizona Cardinals: 915K
Loved the “he’s a great catch” Valentine’s Day card with Larry Fitzgerald featured. Cardinals twitter features instant information and some clever stuff like the Year of the Pig tweet. Love the fact there is Kingsbury podcast and it is being pushed.
17. Detroit Lions: 1.34M
Of immediate interest was the team was pushing the Alliance of American Football with first tweet when account was viewed. Appreciate the five areas team could upgrade or improve. Shows it is presenting site with sense of reality and challenge. There is a podcast, which is something every team should have and present front and center. The Daily Drive shows the team gets the importance of social media.
16. Houston Texans: 1.85M
What’s not to like about an account that gives you a Luchadore mask in a video? A safe tweet pushing to a story about the unsafe hire of Brian Cushing as strength and conditioning coach was the smart play. Lots of good talent in J.J. Watt, DeAndre Hopkins and others to push. And the social media folks do the solid lifting and pushing. Good times are ahead in Houston … if you believe what the account is telling you. That’s a lot of followers for a team that has not been to the Super Bowl.
15. Cleveland Browns: 1.16M
Interesting a team that seems to be in the headlines day-in and day-out nationally and is renowned to be followed faithfully like most Dawgs doesn’t have more followers. They have a daily show, push highlights as well as promos and somehow aren’t raging with people. This is an account to watch as the team’s fortunes rise will its numbers? Like the 5 things to know about … treatment of new members of coaching staff. The players have lots of personality and they are featured and will grow audience in time.
14. Tennesee Titans: 749K
Plenty of video, especially of new OC Arthur Smith. Nice to see a team push an assistant out there. Also, good to see them push some fans who sent questions in for mailbag. Can only entice more folks to write-in since they might see their name. Derrick Henry gets a big push, so expect him to be the workhorse and prominent. And they played up former players who had successes like Kevin Mawae and Jason McCourty.
13. Baltimore Ravens: 1.45M
A perfect touch in pinning the Ed Reed HOF tweet. Deserves all the eyeballs it can get as he is a Ravens legend. Good work, too, retweeting the Ellen Degeneres tweet about Timothy & Malik at the Ravens’ game. And the touching treatment to Frank Robinson shows the team, its social media folks and front office understand Baltimore. There’s a lot of good here. Impressive.
12.Minnesota Vikings: 1.28M
The Purple People can get an earful from the Wobcast. They also were able to learn that quarterback Kirk Cousins was willing to take time and call in from Grand Cayman. There is the usual birthday wishes and mailbag pushes. They did nice job in handling Wade Wilson death including retweets of his Vikings teammates. Not afraid to find out what team has to do to improve as there was push to ask the experts. Could use more videos than still images.
11. Chicago Bears: 1.74M
The team takes you for a sweet ride, much like the on Tarik Cohen had heading into the Chicago Auto Show. There’s plenty of interesting content in different platforms, video, audio, text. They know their fans are mesmerized by Da Bears and they show an appreciation for having such a loyal fan base.
10. Indianapolis Colts: 1.02M
Love the pinned tweet of the open letter from Coach Frank Reich to the fans. And one can not underplay the amount of interest created by owner Jim Irsay’s social presence and always clever contests with the hat-pick winners. There is news, videos, interaction. The team embraces social media. Think the way they have other players congratulate those who win awards is nice touch.
9. Dallas Cowboys: 3.78M
Everything is positive with the Cowboys on Twitter. Lots of energy and optimism. The closest one could find toward a negative was “What is the market for slot receivers?” with a photo of Cole Beasley and that’s hardly a shot, If you like the cheerleaders, there’s plenty of content. If you like Cowboys news, it’s loaded. They aren’t afraid to retweet other material that pushes the franchise. Plenty of video content in many forms and podcast is out there. The 3.78M followers likely love the tone or if you hate America’s Team you aren’t gonna get any warmer and fuzzier feelings.
8. Los Angeles Chargers: 834K
The team wins the social media battle of Los Angeles. They may not have found a home yet but they are trying. The Which Phil are you today? works spendidly. The push for #BackstageChargers is excellent and they incorporate team and community.
7. New England Patriots
When you are a dynasty and Super Bowl champs, you have a wealth of content and personalities to choose from and the Pats use it. Love the photo top left of the Patriots’ fan. Definitely make fans feel a part of the team. Would love some more behind-the-scenes stuff.
6. Buffalo Bills: 975K
The Bills finally beat the Patriots. Go to the account and immediately there is an eye-catchy video of Billy Buffalo, the mascot, delivering a pizza to Coach Sean McDermott on National Pizza Day. And the pie has a Bills logo in the middle. Wonderful creativity and, um, taste. The FunFact graphics are a great way to introduce followers to the human side of players. Had some fun with the buffalo video charging by the car. Love that they remembered the Whitney Houston anthem and did not shy away from Super Bowl memories despite losing four in a row. Some nice graphic work. Would love to see podcast.
5. Kansas City Chiefs: 1.26M
How wonderful is the Usain Bolt-Tyreek Hill video? Absolutely splendid bringing together two speed demons. The mock draft roundup is a great use of video. Fans will love the MVP wallpaper of Patrick Mahomes, who is featured everywhere and all the time. The team celebrates its present as well as its past and offers a nice balance of content.
4. Pittsburgh Steelers: 3.41M
Fun site offers a variety of different touches. You get the information on team and you also receive some humor to go along with it. Love the Legend Series of profiles. Great way to incorporate team history.
3. Seattle Seahawks: 2.35M
The coach, Pete Carroll, has a great presence and understanding of social media. He’s been on top of this game for a long time, connecting with the fan base as well as commenting on events that matter to one and all. They take care of their own. They cover the weather in clever ways. A strong and favorable presence that boosts the team’s support system.
2. Philadelphia Eagle: 3.41M
Love, love, love the video showing Joel Embiid at the game prompting folks to enjoy the 76ers. Philly symmetry. They also reel in the Philly feel with the legends remembering Moses Malone, who was having his jersey retired. Podcast love and that’s something can’t get enough of from any team. Strong on videos, check out the one-on-one with Carson Wentz. Lots of Philly pride that comes through mean and green throughout. Spectacular job pushing the work Chris Long does and showcases his humanity and deeds.
1. Carolina Panthers: 3.01M
Easy to see why the Panthers have cracked the 3M bar. They have a fun site that incorporates the city of Charlotte, personalities on the team and other sports/pop culture events that resonate. The All-Star starting fives is just an example of what can be done through social media to tie things together. Playing up Cam Newton’s Youtube channel another example of smart work.
