in a digital age what content does the nfl post to engage

In a digital age what content does the NFL

post to engage with its fans: an in-depth look

at the engagement of NFL teams on

Instagram.

Kiley Hession

Southern Methodist University

AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE ENGAGEMENT OF NFL TEAMS ON INSTAGRAM

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine what different NFL teams post to their Instagram

accounts to engage with their followers. Additionally, an analysis as to what type of content and

post best engages followers was conducted. This research sought to understand what teams

across the NFL can post to drive more likes and comments in a time when a majority of NFL

fans are unable to see their favorite teams in person. A comparison as to what different

conferences post was also made. Using Erving Goffman’s Self-Presentation Theory (1959),

Instagram posts were coded based on the type of content and the type of posts for a month both

during and leading up to the 2020 NFL Season. The results show that NFL teams tend to post

about their players most on Instagram and there are significant differences in the type of post

shared on Instagram in terms of driving comments. This information can be used to guide NFL

teams when planning out what to post to their fanbases on Instagram.


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Introduction

The way humans engage with each other is continuously changing. Through the

introduction of smartphones and social media channels, the digital world has evolved from a

source of entertainment to a necessity for daily connections (PEW Research, 2019). From the

first social media platform launched in 1997, to today’s trending platforms like Instagram,

Snapchat, and Tik Tok, people are tapped into each other’s lives like never before. Across the

globe, there are about 3.6 billion internet users on social media platforms in 2020 and that

number is continuing to grow each year (Clement, 2020b).

Not only are these social media sites a way to stay in touch with friends and family, but they

also are a way for businesses to communicate with their customers and for celebrities to give

fans a behind the scenes look at their life. Professional athletes share their favorite workout

routines, clothing brands, and silly pictures with their families to their millions of followers.

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, for example, recently posted a video on Tik Tok

of his him and his teammate singing a famous Michael Jackson song while getting ready for

practice.

[Insert Figure 1 about here]

Fans love feeling like an “insider” getting the exclusive look at what their favorite striker,

quarterback, or point guard does when he or she steps out of the arena (Swarm, 2018). Whether

it’s through their own personal accounts or a team account, staying connected to your fan

community has become crucial because it brings people together and makes them feel connected

to the team (Swarm, 2018). Team accounts are particularly important because they have

exclusive access to players, coaches, and information that journalism outlets do not possess.


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Before social media, all information about a team or player came through the public relations

department sharing it with the media, but now teams have the power to release information

directly to fans (Swarm, 2018). These platforms use a variety of different methods of sharing

information through things like text, graphics, and videos.

Companies, teams and sports leagues also use social media to interact with fanbases, share

information, and develop their brand. As shown in figure 2, the NFL Instagram page posts

highlights for fans as well as any scheduling changes, so fans are finding out straight from the

source. This is another way that fans can feel like an insider by getting updates as soon as they

occur straight from the source. This direct communication allows fans to engage with the

companies, teams, and leagues that they are passionate about and find others similar to

themselves.

[Insert Figure 2 about here]

Instagram has emerged as one of the leading social media sites in terms of engagement with

its users through likes, comments, and shares. A study released in 2014 reported that engagement

on Instagram was 15 times higher than the engagement on Facebook, receiving more than 1.2

billion likes per day (Truong, 2014). On Instagram, people are engaging and connecting already,

but during the coronavirus global pandemic, Instagram and other platforms became even more

prevalent for people to feel a part of communities. Social media usage increased by 61% over

normal usage rates during social isolation where people around the world stayed at home

(Kantar, 2020). During the early months of 2020, people across the world relied on digital tools

even more.


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In March 2020, the world was forced to shut down to help prevent the spread of COVID-19

(AJMC Staff, 2020). During this time, in order to stay connected, millions took to social media

to fill the social void in their lives (Koeze & Popper, 2020). eMarketer conducted a study

between late March and early May on social media usage during the pandemic and reported that

46%-51% of US adults used social media more often since the pandemic began (Samet, 2020).

The study also found that “US adult social network users will spend 7 more minutes per day on

social networks than in 2019” (Samet, 2020, p. 1). And, in a year where there will be limited fans

in stadiums, sports teams and athletes have to find other ways to engage with their fans through

digital platforms.

As this growth in social media usage increases due to the pandemic, professional athletes’

presence on social media platforms has also grown (Clement, 2020a). For example, professional

soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo recorded 237 million Instagram followers in August 2020

(Clement, 2020a) which was over 100 million more than his 116 million followers in 2017

(Hartmans, 2017). This year, two of the top ten most followed Instagram accounts across the

globe were professional athletes’ accounts (Clement, 2020a). The athletes were Ronaldo with

238.89 million followers and Leo Messi with 167.27 million followers (Clement, 2020a).

Ronaldo and Messi’s large followings show how fans want to engage with these players know

what what’s going on in their lives. There is a demand for sports on social media and teams can

help to fill it. Similar to athletes like Ronaldo and Messi, professional leagues and teams are also

seeing an increase of engagement and followers on social media. In April 2020, WWE’s

WrestleMania received a total of 13.8 million social media interactions (WWE.com Staff, 2020).

These interactions were from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and included posts pertaining to


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the event or using the WWE’s event hashtag, as well as likes and shares on the WWE posts

(WWE.com Staff, 2020). That 13.8 million engagement was a 57% increase from the last

WrestleMania (WWE.com Staff, 2020). Professional teams and leagues have an opportunity at

hand to supply their fanbases with engaging content in order to better connect. When users enjoy

content on an account, they are more likely to follow the account and engage through likes,

shares, and comments (McLachlan, 2020).

Previous studies have looked into social media in sports, but there are gaps in the research.

Hambrick et al. (2010) looked at professional athletes’ Twitter usage and Vale and Fernandes

(2017) examined sports fans’ Facebook habits. In both of these studies, the research was

conducted usage on Facebook and Twitter, which are older social media platforms. There has

also been research conducted to understand why fans engage with sports teams on Facebook or

why fans follow athletes on Twitter. But there is a lack of understanding about social media from

a professional teams’ standpoint. Team accounts provide the most direct source of information to

its fans since the information posted on teams’ accounts is coming straight from the source,

rather than a third-party reporter (Swarm, 2020). These team accounts are where fans can find

other fans of their specific teams in the comments section and it’s where the most avid fans look

for videos of their favorite players at practice. It is the content most specified content in terms of

a team fan, but there have been few studies looking into how these teams utilize these platforms.

From this research, teams could also learn if they are appropriately engaging with their fans and

can better understand how to utilize Instagram.

This research study will fill that gap by extending our current understanding of athlete use of

Instagram to team use of Instagram. The study focuses specifically on the National Football


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League (NFL) and analyzes the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings, and Los

Angeles Rams Instagram accounts. These four teams are all from different regions of the country

and a part of different divisions. Additionally, they all have a similar amount of Instagram

follower ranging from 1 million – 1.4 million. The teams’ Instagram accounts were analyzed for

1 month during the NFL season and categorized by a variety of factors including type of

picture/video, caption, number of likes, and number of comments.

The research will better explain how Instagram accounts from a professional football team

are run and what the most engaging types of content is. This research will help to understand

how to optimally engage with fans on social media during a time where digital media is more

crucial and influential than ever. Additionally, it will show the gaps in content that is being

posted across these different teams’ Instagram accounts. It can be applied to other teams within

the NFL and adapted to fit each specific fanbase for other sports leagues. Because people are

craving content and looking for digital engagement due to the coronavirus, this study will help to

fill those holes and provide information for other teams and leagues to follow. Overall, this

research is relevant and valuable because of the everchanging time we are living in during the

global pandemic and it will help provide information on the content that engages fans on one of

the most popular social platforms.

Related Work

When looking at social media and analyzing both motives for posting and the

engagement on posts, researchers use two prominent theories. These theories are the “Uses and

Gratifications Theory,” which explains the motives for users engaging on social media, and the

“Self-Motivation Theory,” which explains the type of content posted on these platforms. Both


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theories help to explain how social media is used and how content creators can better utilize

social media accounts. In order to grasp how social media is used by all types of users, it is

critical to first understand the “Uses and Gratifications Theory.”

Uses and Gratifications Theory

In 1974, the “Uses and Gratifications Theory” was used by Blumler and Katz to explain how

and why people seek out social media platforms to satisfy their needs. Following these athletes

and feeling connected to them gratifies them, therefore, making them feel as though they need to

go on social media to feel complete (Blumler & Katz, 1974). Especially in a time when everyone

wants to feel more connected, the Uses and Gratifications Theory better justifies that people need

to be a part of something to be satisfied (Blumler & Katz, 1974). The theory says that people are

driven to certain types of media because of needs that they have (Sundar & Limperos, 2013).

These needs are typically formed before going on social media, so in this case caused by the

digital age and the coronavirus. Although the motivations and needs for going on social media

may not be because of the content, once on the platforms, their needs are satisfied by social

media and being a part of the platform (Sundar and Limperos, 2013). A study from Vale and

Fernandes (2017), looks into why professional European football fans engaged with their

favorite clubs on Facebook (Vale & Fernandes, 2017). By reading through Facebook users’

responses, the two were able to find that fans primarily consume teams’ content for “information

needs” and engage on posts because of “brand love” (Vale & Fernandes, 2017). Because these

fans love their teams and the overall “team brand,” they want to engage with them and feel a part

of the community bond (Vale & Fernandes, 2017). Similarly, Clavio & Kian (2010) used the

Uses and Gratifications Theory to look at Twitter, rather than Facebook. In their study, they


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examined the Twitter account of a retired female athlete and sent a survey out to her followers.

Of the 216 responses they used, Clavio and Kian (2010) found that the former athlete’s followers

were most interested in being her fan and were emotional consumers, meaning that her content

was not for business needs, but rather for emotional needs (Clavio & Kian, 2010). Like Vale and

Fernandes (2017), Clavio and Kian (2010) found that fans followed these sports-related accounts

were for “brand love,” but because it was an athlete’s account rather than a team, there was no

informational desire on the Twitter account. By looking into the Uses and Gratifications Theory,

we have a better understanding of social media from a user’s perspective and why fans follow

athletes and teams on social media. The research conducted for that theory was surveys and

interviews to better understand people’s feelings, but for the research of this study, the Self-

Presentation Theory will be used.

Self-Presentation Theory

The “Self-Presentation Theory” was first developed in 1959 by Erving Goffman and was

focused on social interactions when people could be face-to-face (Goffman, 1959). The theory

posits that people “adopt different identities depending on factors such as the audience or

setting” (Geurin-Eagleman & Burch, 2016, p. 134). Goffman (1959) categorized them into

“frontstage” and “backstage” performances to explain the ways people present themselves at

different times (Goffman, 1959). Frontstage performances define how people act in public, while

backstage performances define how people act when they are alone or in a comfortable, intimate

environment (Goffman, 1959). Goffman (1959) argues that people present themselves a certain

way to the public, showing them the best version of themselves (Goffman, 1959). These

definitions were originally meant for people’s public interactions, but since 1959, social media


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was introduced and thus the theory has evolved to explain digital interactions as well. Studies

over the years have applied the self-presentation theory to platforms including Instagram and

Facebook to better understand how public figures present themselves to the outside world.

On social media platforms, especially those that include photographs, people create an

image to publicize to the outside world. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook allow users to

control what they post and what their profiles look like, similar to how you act in public during a

“frontstage performance.” With the popularity on these platforms, studies have been conducted

to show how social media platforms are used to create a specific brand (Geurin-Eagleman &

Burch, 2016). Geurin-Eagleman and Burch (2016) looked at international Olympic athletes’

Instagram accounts to examine how they present themselves to the outside world, utilizing

Instagram as a personal branding tool. By coding 800 Instagram posts from 8 male and female

athletes, they found that personal life photographs were more popular than business photos, but

the account’s following increased more when business photos were posted (Geurin-Eagleman &

Burch, 2016). Additionally, the more hashtags used in a post, the less likes the post would

receive (Geurin-Eagleman & Burch, 2016). These individual athletes post specific photos of

themselves to show their image, as teams do as well. Anagnostopoulos et al. (2018) examined

how teams “brand through pictures.” They looked at the official Instagram accounts for two

European Soccer League teams and used similar coding methodology to Geurin-Eagleman and

Burch (2016). By analyzing the posts of two teams, they found that although comments are

viewed as a stronger form of engagement on team posts, increasing the number of likes will

better increase the reach the post will get to users on the social media platform, which best

increases awareness of the team (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018). Additionally, they found that


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content related directly to the “product,” such as posts about players, coaches, or team success,

received higher number of responses compared to “non-product” content that includes

community service and team history (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018). From Anagnostopoulos et

al. (2018) study, the first study to look at profession sports teams’ utilization of Instagram, they

better understood the power Instagram has a branding tool for teams and athletes through

engagement mechanisms like commenting. Their research contributed to showing how teams can

control what is said about them through Instagram and can have direct communication with their

fans, as well as suggested that players and teams accounts should be synchronized in order to

best promote their team and brand (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018).

This idea of personal branding is a large factor for why teams and athletes post

(Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018). Although personal branding is one of the most significant

reasons members of the sports industry use social media, research has also shown that

communication with fans also play a part. Hambrick et al. (2010) analyzed how athletes

communicated with their fans and other players via Twitter by breaking down 1962 tweets into

six different categories. From their research, they found that the largest percentage of tweets

were categorized as “interactivity.” Interactivity means that the tweets were focused on

communicating with their followers (Hambrick et al., 2010). The idea of communicating with

fans, as concluded in this study, can not only apply to athletes but can also apply to professional

teams as a reason motivator for using social media. Through both personal branding and

communication, teams and athletes are interacting with their followers.

In addition to the uses for Instagram, like as a branding tool, researchers have also looked

into the content different groups of people post to social media accounts. Anagnostopoulos et al.


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(2018), and Geurin-Eagleman and Burch (2016) looked at the effectiveness of Instagram as a

personal branding tool for teams, while Smith and Sanderson (2015) examined the differences in

gender on Instagram posts. These studies look at the differences between male and female,

athletes and nonathletes, and other groups of people and the type of content they post. Applying

the Self-Presentation Theory, Smith and Sanderson (2015) used a mixed methodology approach

in order to both analyze the content of the posts themselves and analyze the text to identify

patterns within the captions. Using this methodology, they analyzed 1,352 Instagram posts from

2 male and 2 female athletes from 8 sports and drew conclusions about the categories of content

(Smith & Sanderson, 2015). Similar to Geurin-Eagleman and Burch’s (2016) study, they made

conclusions about the frequency of certain types of photos. Smith and Sanderson (2015) found

that 73% of all photos were images of the athlete and 45% of those were of the athlete by

themselves. Smith and Sanderson (2015) also analyzed the differences between the male and

female, thereby taking the research one step further and showing differences in types of post

rather than show what the accounts are used for (Smith & Sanderson, 2015).

Although Anagnostopoulos et al. (2018) research study and others look into Instagram

usage in sports media, more research needs to be done in terms of how NFL teams are posting on

Instagram and how it is best to utilize this platform for football teams. This research will be

similar to the studies discussed above, in that I will look at how teams are using Instagram as a

branding tool like Anagnostopoulos et al. (2018) but will also be looking at the differences

between these different teams’ accounts and analyzing posts similar to Smith and Sanderson

(2015). By not only looking at the overall content, as done in the Olympic athlete study, but by

also looking at the differences among the account’s postings, as conducted in Smith and


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Sanderson’s (2015) study, my research will provide a wholistic view of which teams best engage

with their followers as well as what type of content and type of post is most engaging. As

conducted in the previous studies, similar methodology will be used in that I will code Instagram

content.

After learning more about how sports social media accounts have been studied

throughout the years, gaps that will be filled by this research were identified. Many studies have

been done regarding athletes on Instagram, but there is scarce research about teams on

Instagram. Hambrick and Simmons looked at professional athletes including NFL players on

Twitter but did not look at teams’ Twitter accounts (Hambrick et al., 2010). Other studies like

Vale and Fernandes looked at professional European football teams on Facebook but studied it

from the fan’s perspective rather than from the team’s perspective (Vale & Fernandes, 2017).

This research will fill the gap of social media from a team perspective. By looking into what

different NFL teams currently post, this research will identify what areas they are lacking and

other professional sports organizations and entertainment conglomerates and general can take

this research to measure if they are effectively engaging with fans through their content via

Instagram. Additionally, there have been many studies regarding sports on Facebook and

Twitter, including Vale and Fernandes (2017) as well as Hambrick et al. (2010), but less have

been conducted on Instagram since it is a newer platform than Facebook or Twitter. This

research will help to provide more information to content creators and organizations in terms of

the type of content posted on Instagram.

The gaps mentioned above will be filled by answering the three following research

questions:


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RQ1: What type of content do different NFL teams post on Instagram?

RQ2: What type of content best engages fans in terms of likes and comments?

RQ3: Do teams in different conferences post different content on Instagram?

Methods

The research questions listed above will be answered through a content analysis of the

Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Rams, and Houston Texans teams posts

from September 1, 2020 – September 30, 2020. In this one-month period, all Instagram posts

will be coded to look at the following categories: number of posts during the month, type

of/content of post, engagement rates.

Participants

The data used for research was collected from four NFL teams’ Instagram accounts. Each

team selected for the study is from a different region of the country and is also in a different

conference and division within the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens are located on the East Coast and

are in the AFC North, the Minnesota Vikings are located in the Midwest and are in the NFC

North, the Houston Texans are located in the South and are in the AFC South, and the Los

Angeles Rams are located on the West Coast and are a member of the NFC West. Between the

four teams, there are also two teams from the NFC and two teams from the AFC. These teams

were also selected because of their Instagram following size. As of October 2020, the following

of the four teams ranged from 1 million followers to 1.4 million followers. The Baltimore

Ravens (@ravens) have 1.4 million followers, the Minnesota Vikings (@vikings) have 1 million

followers the Houston Texans (@houstontexans) have 1.3 million followers, and the Los

Angeles Rams (@rams) have 1 million followers. The four teams also have various current


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standings in the NFL during the 2020-2021 NFL season in terms of their playing record. The end

of September, the power rankings for each team varied. The Texans were ranked 25th, the

Vikings were ranked 23rd, the Rams were ranked 9th, and the Ravens were ranked 2nd (Hoge,

2020). With the variations of location, division, and power ranking, as well as a similarity of

following size, NFL teams’ Instagram accounts were accurately assessed with a variation of

representation among standing in the league and location in the country.

Each teams’ Instagram posts were analyzed for the first month of the 2020-2021 NFL

regular season (September 1-September 30). In this month, the NFL both geared up for the

season and kicked off on September 13, showing the contrast in posting in the offseason vs. in

season. 98 posts were posted from the Los Angeles Rams during September, 189 posts were

posted during one month by the Baltimore Ravens, 96 posts were made to Instagram by the

Minnesota Vikings in September, and 88 posts were made by the Houston Texans during

September. In total, 479 Instagram posts were analyzed from the four teams.

Materials

For this study, Microsoft Excel was used to track the data from the Instagram accounts

and perform two-sample t-tests. The categories used were based off of Anagnostopoulos et al.’s

(2018) research study but adapted from two teams’ Instagram accounts to four and altered for the

purposes of this research. The posts from each Instagram account were categorized into 8

categories, stadium, players on the field, players off the field, coaches, information, sponsored

content, game information, team/fan culture. The 471 Instagram posts were also analyzed based

on the number of likes and comments. The total amount of likes and comments for each team

was broken down by total per team as well as per each individual post. Additionally, the total


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likes and comments for each type of post per team was also recorded. From the total amount of

likes and comments for each type of post per team, similarities and differences were identified

between each team. Also, the amount of each type of post was analyzed and looked at in terms of

amount of average engagement to total number of follower’s ratio to better understand which

account had the best following engagement. The engagement in this study is defined through

likes and comments on each post. In order to look at each team equally, since they all have

different numbers of followers, engagement was measured using a ratio taking the number of

comments or likes and dividing it by the total number of followers. The ratios for the different

categories for each team were compared.

Design and Procedure

Data analysis was conducted using Excel to conduct the research for this study. In the

statistical analysis of this data, posts were first looked at in terms of the type of post (video,

image, graphic). A video can be anything from players highlights to a hype video that is not a

still image or photoshop created graphic. An image is a photograph taken either of a player,

coach, stadium, etc. that has not been edited to contain text or other effects in photoshop. A

graphic is any image that has been adapted to contain text or effects, such as quotes from a

player or a happy birthday graphic. The Instagram posts for each team were broken down into

these three post type categories and from there were analyzed based on the content of the post.

When analyzing the content of what each post contained, 8 categories were used

(Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018). The categories were stadium, players in action, players off the

field, coaches, information, sponsored content, team success, fans/team culture. Content

containing the “stadium” is any image, video, or graphic that is focused on the stadium. Content


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containing “players in action” is any image, video, or graphic of a player or group of players

playing football either in a game or in practice. “Players off the field” is any image, video, or

graphic showing a player or group of players doing anything other than football whether that be

dancing, walking into the locker room on game day, etc. Content containing “coaches” is any

image, video, or graphic of a coach at any time whether that be on or off the field. Content

pertaining to “information” is any image, video, or graphic that provides information to a fan or

general user such as a press release or change in game time. “Sponsored content” is any image,

video, or graphic that is for advertising purposes from a paid sponsorship. “Game information” is

any image, video, or graphic displaying a team’s wins and success on the field, or information

about a game. Finally, “fans/team culture” refers to any image, video, or graphic that features

fans, team history, or the culture of said team. No Instagram reels, Instagram stories, Instagram

series, or Instagram shop content was analyzed in this research. Descriptions and examples of

each category for the Instagram post can be seen in Table 1.

[Insert Table 1 about here]

Once each post from every team was categorized by both the type of post and the content,

the number of likes and comments from each post were coded and analysis was conducted to

look at the total number of likes per team for videos, total number of likes per team for graphics,

and the total number of likes per team for images. The same was also done for total number of

like and comments per team for each of the eight content categories. Once all the data was

collected, similarities and differences were measured and anova and t-tests were conducted on

the data to show the significance of the differences found. From there results were collected and

conclusions were drawn.


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Results and Analysis

The total number of Instagram posts analyzed between the four teams during the month

of September was 471. The posts were categorized by type of content (video, image, or graphic),

and type of post (stadium, players in action, players off the field, coaches, information,

sponsored content, game information, or fans/team culture). The types of engagement that was

measured were likes and comments for the Ravens, Vikings, Rams, and Texans. First, the total

number of posts for each type of post and type of content was recorded and analyzed. Then,

posting tendencies were analyzed between conferences and teams. Following, engagement was

measured and compared between the types of content and types of post through a

comments/followers or likes/followers ratio and anova and t-tests.

Similarities and Differences in Posts

When conducting an overview of fan engagement, the total number of posts during the

month of September were found, as were total number of likes and comments, as seen in Table 2.


After finding the total number of posts, the total number of posts for each category per

team was found. All of this information and a breakdown of each team can be found in Table 3.


In terms of type of content, the Ravens and Rams both posted images the most as

opposed to videos or graphics. The Ravens posted 117 images of their 189 posts, while the Rams

posted 39 images of their 98 posts. The Vikings and Texans posted videos the most, with 43

videos for the Vikings and 33 videos for the Texans. In regard to the type of post from the eight

categories listed above, all four teams posted players off the field the most, the Vikings tied


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between players in action and players off the field (with 29 each). The Ravens, Rams, and

Texans all posted about their stadiums the least with 1-2 total posts during the entire month.

In order to see whether the teams posting habits differed, anova tests were done to show

if there were any significant differences between the teams’ type of content and type of post. The

anova test conducted to find differences between each of the four teams regarding type of

content resulted in a p-value of .35 > .05, showing that there was no significant difference

between the type of content each team posts. The anova test used for the type of post for each

team had a p-value of .50 > .05, also showing that there was no significant difference between

the type of post between each team. This information shows that although there were differences

in the amount in each category that each team posts to Instagram, there was no significant

difference. After looking at each team, the two conferences were compared to find any

differences.

Comparisons of Posts Between Teams in Difference Conferences

An analysis into the differences between the AFC and the NFC was conducted following

an analysis between the four teams used in this study. A full look at the comparisons between the

NFC and AFC teams can be found in Table 4.


The AFC teams (Ravens and Texans) overall posted 148 images, while the NFC teams

(Vikings and Rams) posted 63. The NFC teams posted more graphics than the AFC teams with

62 to 50. And the AFC teams posted 10 more videos than the NFC teams with 79 to 69. When

conducting an anova test regarding whether or not the differences in types of content were

significant between the two conferences, a p-value of .39 > .05 was found. From this anova test,


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a conclusion was drawn that there was no significant difference between the type of content the

NFC and AFC posts. Once looking at content, the types of posts were analyzed between

divisions.

In terms of types of posts, the NFC and AFC varied in some categories. For example, the

AFC posted 120 posts of their players off the field, while the NFC posted only 59. Similarly, the

NFC posted 33 posts of game information, while the AFC posted 17. In other categories,

however their posting tendencies were the same. For stadiums and coaches, the two conferences

posted almost the same amount. Although there were some differences in the types of posts the

two conferences posted, when conducting an anova test, there was no significant difference

between the two conferences. A p-value of .55 > .05 was found, proving that the types of posts

each conference shares on Instagram was not significantly different.

From this information, it can be concluded that the NFC and the AFC post similar content

to their Instagram accounts in terms of both type of content and type of post. Although when

looking at the numbers the posts vary, that was because teams in general posted various number

of total posts. For example, the Ravens shared 189 posts, while the Vikings shared 96 during the

month of September. Overall, for each teams’ allotted posts during the month of September the

content did not differ significantly.

Comparisons of Likes and Comments Between Types of Posts and Types of Content

After comparing the postings between conferences and teams, the ratios in terms of

comments and likes per following were found for each team. The engagement rates of each type

of content and post were compared in an anova test. A full list of the engagement rates for each

team used in the anova test can be found in Table 5.


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The first anova test was conducted to determine if there was any significant difference in

the engagement rates for the three types of content. From the anova tests, it was found that in

terms of comments there was an anova test p-value of .415 > .05, proving that there was no

significant difference between engagement rates for images, videos, and graphics. In terms of

likes, the anova test p-value when comparing images, videos, and graphics was .508 > .05, also

showing that there was not a significant difference in terms of likes on the different content.

From these findings, it can be concluded that there was not a significant difference in the

engagement rates between graphics, images, and videos. So, teams can post any of the three

types of content and receive similar engagement rates.

Once conclusions were drawn based on images, graphics, and videos, anova tests were

again conducted to find out if there was a significant difference between engagement rates on the

eight different types of posts. From the anova test conducted concerning comments across the

four teams’ posts on stadiums, players in action, players off the field, coaches, information,

sponsored content, game information, and fan/team culture the p-value was .0004283 < .05,

showing that there was a significant difference. After finding this value, t-tests were conducted to

cross-reference all eight categories in order to identify where these significant differences were.

From the t-tests, it was concluded that there was a significant difference in terms of comments

between stadium posts and players in action, stadium posts and game information, players in

action and coaches, players in action and sponsored content, players in action and fan/team

culture, coaches and game information, information and game information, and sponsored

content and game information. From these results, NFL teams can use this information to


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identify what types of posts receive significantly more comments than others. For example, from

the results, players in action posts prompted significantly more comments than stadium posts and

sponsored content posts. So, teams should find a way to incorporate players in action posts into

their sponsored content campaigns, in order to increase comment engagement. Additionally,

game information received significantly more comments than sponsored content, so this could

also be an area where teams combine their sponsored content and game information posts to

receive more engagement for their sponsors, who pay for the posts.

From this analysis of examining similarities and differences of teams’ posting, as well as

conference postings, and the engagement rates across the four teams, conclusions were be drawn

regarding what NFL teams posts and what they should post moving forward to best engage with

their fanbases.

Discussion

This research study is one of the first to look at NFL teams’ postings on Instagram and its

effectiveness in terms of engagement. Although other sports, such as soccer, have been analyzed

in the past, it was only with two teams. And, other studies have analyzed athletes or fans usage

of Instagram, but there is a lack of information regarding how a professional team uses

Instagram.

The first research question (RQ1) asked “what type of content do different NFL teams

post on Instagram?” This question was answered by the similarities and differences in posts

(Table 2).



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From this, it is found that mainly images are posted amongst these four Instagram

accounts. Teams post many still images on their Instagram accounts, whether its players walking

into the locker room, or fans getting pumped on gameday. Instagram was originally created for

still images to be posted and NFL teams have stuck to that original purpose by posting 211

images across all four teams during the month of September. Additionally, from the differences

and similarities in posts, it was found that the type of posts that is most often shared was players

off the field. Overall, teams are posting content of their players doing anything other than

catching a football in order to show fans what their team is like and to give them a behind the

scenes looks into player operations. Anagnostopoulos et al. (2018) found similar information in

terms of what soccer clubs post on Instagram. They classified their types of posting into

“product” and “non-product” (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018). Product posts were defined as any

post having to do with the game soccer, players, and the product on the field (Anagnostopoulos

et al., 2018). Non-product was defined as all other posts made to the Instagram outside of the

product, including traditions, fans, and the stadium (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018). In their

research, they found that posts related to the product were shared most often, similar to the NFL.

This suggests that across different sports leagues, social media managers believe that a variety of

posting is best, but postings of the product should be shared most often. Although posts of

players are shared the most on these NFL teams’ Instagram accounts, that does not necessarily

mean they are best way to engage followers.

The second research question (RQ2) “what type of content best engages fans in terms of

comments and likes?” was answered by an analysis of engagement across all four teams (number

comments in a category / total number of followers). From this research, overall images seemed


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to best engage fans across all four teams, recording the highest engagement rate in terms of likes

(235.01%) and in terms of comments (1.76%). The most engaging content during the month of

September for these four teams was posts that had to do with the players, most specifically off

the field. For all four teams, their highest engagement in terms of likes came from players off the

field. For engagement rates regarding comments, the Ravens and Texans highest rate came from

players off the field, while the Vikings and Rams highest engagement rate for comments came

from game information. With this analysis, in order to best engage with fans teams should post

mainly of their players, primarily off the field to give fans an inside look into what happens off

the field. Similar to the Ravens and Texans focusing primarily on players off the field and

receiving high engagement rates, the soccer club LFC had a similar strategy and also received

more engagement (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018). Anagnostopoulos et al.’s (2018) study

supports the idea this research that players should be posted more on Instagram because it tends

to engage fans. In addition to posts of players, game information should also be posted more

often since that had a significant difference in terms of engagement. This game information

should be posted on days other than gameday, however, since it receives high engagement. This

could include prompting fans to comment their favorite play from the previous week or predict

scores for the upcoming game. In terms of overall type of post, images best engaged fans, so

teams should focus their efforts on getting the best images possible for their Instagram.

The third research question (RQ3) “do teams in different conferences post different

content on Instagram?” can be answered by looking at the analysis of posting numbers across the

four teams. Although when looking at the numbers, there were some differences. For example,

the two AFC teams posted more fans/team culture posts than the two NFC teams and the two


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NFC teams posted more about game information than the two AFC teams. Overall, the four

accounts posted fairly similar posts and no significant difference was found. The main difference

found was that the posts were similar but what type of content they used for that type of post

varied. For example, the Ravens posted images of their players entering the stadiums, while the

Rams posted videos instead. Overall, there were some differences in their posting, but the two

conferences were fairly similar, as they are all catering to NFL fans.

With the analysis from this study, NFL teams will be able to better cater to their fans,

increase engage on sponsored content, and identify how to best engage with fans during the

coronavirus pandemic. The results from this research extend previous research in that there is

now a study explaining how NFL teams post on Instagram. Before, studies were primarily

focused on athletes or fans, but this study explains a team side of Instagram usage.

Although there were many conclusions done during this research there were some

limitations, which can allow for further research to be conducted in the future. This research

could only be done over the course of a month, so future researchers could build upon the current

research by examining NFL teams’ Instagram accounts for a longer period of time. Additionally,

only four teams were looked at in this study. Although their accounts are similar, not all NFL

teams post the same, so looking at other teams with fewer followers than at least 1 million or

more followers than 1.4 million could also further the research. Additionally, comparing teams

from different categories could also be done in the future. In this study it looked at a team from

each region of the country (east coast, Midwest, south, and west coast). Future studies could look

at the last four teams to win the Super Bowl or teams from the original NFL (like Packers, Bears,

etc.). There is still a lot of research that can be done, but despite my limitations, this research


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furthers the information regarding what professional football teams posts on Instagram to engage

with their fans/followers and which of this content is actually engaging fans.

Conclusions and References

In 2020, social media platforms have been heavily relied on to engage with fans while

isolated from stadiums. This research begins to fill the gap regarding how to best engage with

NFL fans on Instagram from a team’s perspective. From the research, it was found that game

information and players in action received significantly more engagement in terms of comments

than sponsored content. This information can be used to explain how NFL teams should structure

their sponsored content campaigns within their accounts, to prompt engagement to show to their

sponsors. With this research, other NFL teams can look at these engagement results and shift

how they’re posting to their followers on Instagram. Additionally, they can use the analysis done

to conduct their own team analysis to best cater to their fanbases. Overall, this research will help

to further develop the idea of engaging with fans digitally and help to best attract new followers

and encourage engagement on Instagram postings. By doing this, teams will be able to engage

with their followers and fans while not seeing them in person.

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Appendix

Figures

Figure 1: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s TikTok account with a post showing him dancing with his teammates. This shows how athletes today can connect with their fans directly on social media.

Figure 2: The NFL’s Instagram account posts a variety of different content to directly communicate with fans. As seen in the first row of images at the bottom, they posted a


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graphic updating fans on game times due to COVID-19, a graphic promoting Thanksgiving games, and images from a game.

Tables

Table 1: shows a breakdown of all the different types of content and types of posts analyzed for this research study as well as examples of the content on Instagram.

Table 2: shows a breakdown of various numbers when coding NFL teams’ Instagram posts for the month of September. These include the total number of posts, total number of likes and comments during the month, the total number of likes / total number of posts, the total number of comments / total number of posts, and the followings of each team.

Table 3: this shows what each team posted during the month of September in terms of type of content (video, image, and graphic) and type of post (stadiums, players in action, players off the field, coaches, information, sponsored content, game information, and fans/team culture). It also shows which was the most popular type of content or post for each team and which was the least popular. It also shows the total number for each category for the four teams during the month of September.


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Table 4: this shows an in-depth look at the different types of content and types of posts from the AFC and NFC. The AFC teams consist of the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans data, while the NFC consists of the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings data.

Table 5: this shows an in-depth analysis of the engagement ratios by likes and comments for each team during the month of September. The engagement ratio was found by the total number of likes or comments in each category divided by the total number of followers for


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the team being analyzed.

in a digital age what content does the nfl post to engage

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