Facebook vs. Twitter

Total Audience and Demographic Profiles

Below are five summary charts comparing frequency of use and demographic characteristic of Facebook followers vs. Twitter followers on a sport-by-sport basis. The charts below include:

  • Total Number of Facebook, Twitter Followers
  • Followers by Age Group
  • Followers by Income Group
  • Followers by Gender
  • Followers by Frequency of Use

Number of Facebook, Twitter Followers in 2011 (Ranked on Number of Facebook Followers)
Facebook Followers   Twitter Followers  
Number % of All Fans Number % of All Fans
NFL 35,785,000 25.2 13,425,000 9.4
MLB 26,253,000 21.9 10,544,000 8.8
College Football 25,478,000 22.4 9,075,000 8.0
NBA 17,052,000 21.9 7,932,000 10.2
College Basketball 15,693,000 20.3 6,795,000 8.8
NHL 13,716,000 22.2 6,432,000 10.4
Soccer (Non-USA) 8,075,000 20.1 3,107,000 7.8
NASCAR 7,850,000 18.1 2,712,000 6.3
MLS 7,119,000 17.6 2,818,000 7.0
Minor League Baseball 5,270,000 14.6 2,007,000 5.6
IndyCar 4,104,000 12.3 1,584,000 4.7
Minor League Hockey 3,633,000 24.9 1,499,000 10.3
Fishing (Pro-Bass) 2,501,000 17.3 1,008,000 7.0
Rugby (Non-USA) 2,378,000 17.8 1,013,000 7.6
Lacrosse (MLL, NLL) 1,819,000 21.7 768,000 9.2

Source: SBRnet

Followers by Age Group in 2011

% of Facebook Followers, by Age Group

(Ranked by 13-17 Group)

  

% ofTwitter Followers, by Age Group

(Ranked by 13-17 Group)
Category Followed 13-17 18-34 35-49 50+   Category Followed 13-17 18-34 35-49 50+
MLS 25.0 51.8 14.1 9.1   Lacrosse (MLL, NLL) 42.9 38.2 19.0 0.0
Fishing (Pro-Bass) 24.6 36.7 30.9 7.9   Fishing (Pro-Bass) 29.5 46.8 12.6 11.1
Lacrosse (MLL, NLL) 23.8 48.1 15.7 12.4   Rugby (Non-USA) 25.3 64.0 4.3 6.5
Soccer (Non-USA) 23.5 51.3 18.5 6.8   MLS 21.1 58.7 13.9 6.3
Rugby (Non-USA) 23.5 56.1 10.6 9.8   Soccer (Non-USA) 20.8 58.2 20.3 0.6
NBA 16.3 42.8 21.0 19.9   IndyCar 18.4 36.2 29.9 15.5
IndyCar 15.9 33.2 27.8 23.0   Minor League Baseball 17.5 52.7 25.0 4.7
Minor League Baseball 15.5 42.9 16.3 25.3   NBA 15.2 57.1 17.9 9.9
Minor League Hockey 13.5 47.1 29.4 10.1   Minor League Hockey 13.3 49.2 28.8 8.8
NFL 12.2 42.2 26.2 19.3   NFL 13.2 56.0 21.1 9.7
MLB 12.0 42.8 24.7 20.6   MLB 11.2 52.0 25.9 10.9
NHL 11.0 44.7 26.8 17.5   College Football 11.1 60.9 17.5 10.5
College Basketball 10.8 48.9 19.3 21.0   NHL 10.3 54.5 23.3 11.9
NASCAR 10.5 29.1 35.2 25.3   College Basketball 10.1 58.7 19.4 11.8
College Football 8.8 43.4 25.0 22.7   NASCAR 9.4 47.6 31.0 12.0

Source: SBRnet

Followers by Income Group in 2011

% of Facebook Followers, by Income Group

(Ranked by $100,000+)

  

% ofTwitter Followers, by Income Group

(Ranked by $100M+)
  Under
$25M		 $25M -
$49.9M		 $50M -
$99.9M		 $100M+     Under
$25M		 $25M -
$49.9M		 $50M -
$99.9M		 $100M+
Minor League Hockey 29.6 19.4 19.7 31.3   Fishing (Pro-Bass) 34.3 4.3 27.0 34.4
Fishing (Pro-Bass) 21.3 20.7 29.3 28.8   College Basketball 13.7 18.3 34.8 33.2
College Football 15.8 22.3 35.7 26.2   College Football 17.2 17.3 37.9 27.7
Rugby (Non-USA) 36.4 15.4 22.3 25.9   NHL 24.2 17.6 30.8 27.3
NHL 17.0 25.8 31.5 25.6   NBA 14.3 16.4 43.0 26.4
NBA 12.7 24.3 38.1 25.0   MLB 22.2 16.8 35.3 25.8
College Basketball 15.0 22.2 37.8 25.0   Minor League Hockey 35.7 19.7 19.4 25.2
IndyCar 13.5 30.8 30.7 25.0   NFL 21.0 18.0 36.6 24.3
Soccer (Non-USA) 20.7 24.9 29.5 24.8   Minor League Baseball 28.0 14.8 38.0 19.2
MLB 21.3 21.9 32.1 24.7   Lacrosse 43.1 10.6 27.8 18.5
MLS 15.8 30.9 30.1 23.2   MLS 23.6 19.8 39.6 17.0
Minor League Baseball 19.5 24.6 33.8 22.1   NASCAR 38.9 17.1 28.4 15.5
NASCAR 24.1 28.2 26.0 21.6   Soccer (Non-USA) 17.9 33.1 35.4 13.6
NFL 19.0 24.1 35.4 21.5   IndyCar 45.6 13.4 29.6 11.5
Lacrosse (MLL, NLL) 31.5 15.1 35.4 17.9   Rugby (Non-USA) 48.3 28.4 16.0 7.4

Source: SBRnet

Followers by Gender in 2011
Facebook Followers, by Gender
(Ranked by % Male)
Male Female
Rugby (Non-USA) 80.7 19.3
IndyCar 71.3 28.7
Soccer (Non-USA) 68.5 31.5
Minor League Baseball 67.8 32.2
Lacrosse (MLL, NLL) 66.2 33.8
MLS 65.3 35.7
Minor League Hockey 65.2 34.8
MLB 62.5 37.5
NBA 60.7 39.3
NHL 60.3 39.7
College Basketball 60.0 40.0
NFL 59.9 40.1
College Football 56.0 44.0
Fishing (Pro-Bass) 56.0 44.0
NASCAR 55.5 44.5
Twitter Followers, by Gender
(Ranked by % Male)
Male Female
IndyCar 89.9 10.1
Minor League Baseball 88.9 11.1
Rugby (Non-USA) 88.7 11.3
MLS 76.2 23.8
Soccer (Non-USA) 74.2 25.8
Fishing (Pro-Bass) 70.2 29.8
College Basketball 68.5 31.5
NBA 67.9 32.2
NFL 67.6 32.4
MLB 67.0 33.0
NHL 66.6 33.4
NASCAR 66.5 33.5
Lacrosse (MLL, NLL) 66.4 33.6
College Football 66.0 34.0
Minor League Hockey 59.0 41.0

Source: SBRnet

Followers by Frequency of Following in 2011
% of Facebook Followers by Frequency
(Ranked by % Following Daily)
Category Followed Daily 4-6 times/wk Less often
MLB 22.3 14.8 62.9
NFL 22.0 13.5 64.5
College Football 21.5 10.4 68.1
NHL 19.9 9.6 70.5
NASCAR 19.9 13.8 66.3
College Basketball 19.5 6.7 73.8
Soccer (Non-USA) 18.2 13.5 68.3
NBA 17.7 13.8 68.5
Minor League Baseball 12.7 8.9 78.3
MLS 12.3 8.7 79.0
IndyCar 10.8 4.4 84.8
Rugby (Non-USA) 8.1 14.2 77.7
Minor League Hockey 7.8 17.6 74.6
Fishing (Pro-Bass) 3.6 9.0 87.5
Lacrosse (MLL, NLL) 3.5 15.4 81.1
% of Twitter Followers by Frequency
(Ranked by % Following Daily)
Category Followed Daily 4-6 times/wk Less often
NFL 40.8 12.8 46.4
NBA 35.5 6.8 57.6
College Football 34.3 10.6 55.2
NHL 32.2 14.3 53.4
MLB 31.2 14.1 54.7
MLS 30.9 5.3 63.9
NASCAR 26.2 14.5 59.4
College Basketball 26.0 11.6 62.4
Soccer (Non-USA) 25.9 22.3 51.7
Minor League Hockey 17.3 25.8 56.9
Minor League Baseball 13.1 16.8 70.0
IndyCar 8.5 12.6 78.9
Rugby (Non-USA) 6.7 3.8 89.5
Lacrosse (MLL, NLL) 5.1 4.8 90.1
Fishing (Pro-Bass) 0.0 3.8 96.2

Source: SBRnet

Sports Fan Market Links