Social video intelligence and measurement platform Tubular Labs has published new research outlining social video audience behavior tied to major sporting events. Drawing on platform-level data from Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok between July 2025 and March 2026, the report offers five benchmarks for brands, media companies, and creators preparing content strategies for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
1. Soccer Audiences Extend Well Beyond Participating Nations
Soccer viewership on Instagram is not confined to countries fielding teams in the World Cup. Brazil led all nations in soccer-related Instagram views between July 2025 and February 2026, accounting for 36% of total views and outpacing other countries by a notable margin. Argentina ranked second, followed by the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Germany, Mexico, and France.
India appeared at No. 10 in soccer-related Instagram views during the same period, despite the country’s national team having no history of World Cup participation. The data suggests that content strategies built around the event’s official team lineup may leave substantial audience segments unaddressed.
2. Non-Sports Content Outperforms Sports Content on YouTube
Sports videos made up 12.5% of World Cup-related uploads on YouTube between July 2025 and February 2026, yet they averaged just 238,000 views per video. Content in adjacent categories performed substantially better by that measure.
Health & Fitness videos tied to the World Cup averaged 2.3 million views per video. Family & Parenting content averaged 1.4 million, and Food & Drink averaged 859,000. Business & Finance content averaged approximately 800,000 views per video. The data indicates that World Cup-related YouTube audiences engaged more heavily with content outside the sports category than within it.
3. Longer Videos Generate More Engagement Than Short-Form Clips
Short-form video accounted for the largest share of World Cup-related YouTube uploads, with videos under 30 seconds representing 40% of all content posted. That format ranked among the lowest by engagements per video.
Videos between 15 and 20 minutes in length generated the highest engagement, averaging 1,800 engagements each. That figure represented the top of the duration-based engagement distribution, with the 20-minute-plus category placing second at 14.6% share and the 30-second-to-one-minute category third at 17.0%. The data covers YouTube globally across all creator types during the July 2025 through February 2026 window.
4. TikTok Reach and Engagement Peak on Different Days
An analysis of TikTok activity during the 2026 Winter Olympics, covering January through March 2026, found that views and engagement rates did not align by day of the week. Fridays drew the highest total views at 2.4 billion. Mondays and Wednesdays followed at 2 billion and 1.9 billion views respectively, despite lower upload volume on those days.
Engagement rates told a different story. Sundays and Thursdays produced the highest engagement rates at 6.8% and 6.7%, while Fridays, despite leading in total views, did not rank at the top for engagement rate. The divergence indicates that reach and engagement represent separate optimization targets with different optimal posting windows.
5. Brands Captured a Larger Share of YouTube Views During the Super Bowl
YouTube distinguished itself from other social video platforms in terms of brand content performance during Super Bowl LX. Nearly one-third of Super Bowl-related YouTube views between January 26 and February 8, 2026, came from brand accounts, the majority of which were in-game advertisers. Tubular’s analysis described YouTube as functioning as an extension of the event’s narratives and advertiser elements.
On other social video platforms, brands accounted for between 5% and 8% of Super Bowl-related views during the same period. The gap suggests that YouTube’s content structure and audience behavior during tentpole events differ materially from those of competing platforms. Creators generated 1.3 billion Super Bowl-related YouTube views, compared to 740 million for brands and 360 million for media companies.
Images source: Tubular Labs Get the full report here
Dragomir is a Serbian freelance blog writer and translator. He is passionate about covering insightful stories and exploring topics such as influencer marketing, the creator economy, technology, business, and cyber fraud.
Social video intelligence and measurement platform Tubular Labs has published new research outlining social video audience behavior tied to major sporting events. Drawing on platform-level data from Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok between July 2025 and March 2026, the report offers five benchmarks for brands, media companies, and creators preparing content strategies for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
1. Soccer Audiences Extend Well Beyond Participating Nations
Soccer viewership on Instagram is not confined to countries fielding teams in the World Cup. Brazil led all nations in soccer-related Instagram views between July 2025 and February 2026, accounting for 36% of total views and outpacing other countries by a notable margin. Argentina ranked second, followed by the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Germany, Mexico, and France.
India appeared at No. 10 in soccer-related Instagram views during the same period, despite the country’s national team having no history of World Cup participation. The data suggests that content strategies built around the event’s official team lineup may leave substantial audience segments unaddressed.
2. Non-Sports Content Outperforms Sports Content on YouTube
Sports videos made up 12.5% of World Cup-related uploads on YouTube between July 2025 and February 2026, yet they averaged just 238,000 views per video. Content in adjacent categories performed substantially better by that measure.
Health & Fitness videos tied to the World Cup averaged 2.3 million views per video. Family & Parenting content averaged 1.4 million, and Food & Drink averaged 859,000. Business & Finance content averaged approximately 800,000 views per video. The data indicates that World Cup-related YouTube audiences engaged more heavily with content outside the sports category than within it.
3. Longer Videos Generate More Engagement Than Short-Form Clips
Short-form video accounted for the largest share of World Cup-related YouTube uploads, with videos under 30 seconds representing 40% of all content posted. That format ranked among the lowest by engagements per video.
Videos between 15 and 20 minutes in length generated the highest engagement, averaging 1,800 engagements each. That figure represented the top of the duration-based engagement distribution, with the 20-minute-plus category placing second at 14.6% share and the 30-second-to-one-minute category third at 17.0%. The data covers YouTube globally across all creator types during the July 2025 through February 2026 window.
4. TikTok Reach and Engagement Peak on Different Days
An analysis of TikTok activity during the 2026 Winter Olympics, covering January through March 2026, found that views and engagement rates did not align by day of the week. Fridays drew the highest total views at 2.4 billion. Mondays and Wednesdays followed at 2 billion and 1.9 billion views respectively, despite lower upload volume on those days.
Engagement rates told a different story. Sundays and Thursdays produced the highest engagement rates at 6.8% and 6.7%, while Fridays, despite leading in total views, did not rank at the top for engagement rate. The divergence indicates that reach and engagement represent separate optimization targets with different optimal posting windows.
5. Brands Captured a Larger Share of YouTube Views During the Super Bowl
YouTube distinguished itself from other social video platforms in terms of brand content performance during Super Bowl LX. Nearly one-third of Super Bowl-related YouTube views between January 26 and February 8, 2026, came from brand accounts, the majority of which were in-game advertisers. Tubular’s analysis described YouTube as functioning as an extension of the event’s narratives and advertiser elements.
On other social video platforms, brands accounted for between 5% and 8% of Super Bowl-related views during the same period. The gap suggests that YouTube’s content structure and audience behavior during tentpole events differ materially from those of competing platforms. Creators generated 1.3 billion Super Bowl-related YouTube views, compared to 740 million for brands and 360 million for media companies.
Images source: Tubular Labs
Get the full report here
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