STN Digital’s “2025 League Social Performance Report” reveals notable trends in fan engagement across the major U.S. sports leagues, with the NBA and NFL in the lead and personality-focused content emerging as the clear winner regardless of sport or platform.
Platform Performance and Audience Leaders
Among the “Big Four” professional sports leagues, the NBA maintains the largest social media presence, with the Los Angeles Lakers (63.8M followers) and Golden State Warriors (62M followers) leading all teams across leagues. The average NBA team boasts 16.6M followers, significantly outpacing the NFL (9.1M), MLB (5.2M), and NHL (3M).
While Instagram leads engagement for most leagues, TikTok has become particularly crucial for NFL content. The report shows TikTok accounted for 39 of the top 50 NFL posts, with an average of 1.4M engagements per post. For the NBA, Instagram claimed 38 of the top 50 posts, but TikTok delivered the highest engagement on individual team accounts.
“In terms of total engagement, TikTok accounted for 30 of the top 50 posts league-wide, with 23 of the top 30 posts related to the NFL,” the report states.
Content Categories Driving Engagement
Across all leagues, three content categories consistently outperformed others:
- Highlight videos with on-screen text: This format achieved an 816x engagement rate lift across leagues, with NBA content in this style averaging 1.5M engagements (7.7x average overperformance).
- Multiple-player prompt content: Simple videos featuring player reactions to prompts generated a 344% engagement rate lift, with NFL teams seeing particular success (5.9x average overperformance).
- Mic’d up content: Videos featuring player audio during games or practice achieved a 337x engagement rate lift, particularly effective for NHL teams like the Washington Capitals.
The report emphasizes that these formats succeed by showcasing player personalities rather than just game highlights, suggesting fans connect with the human elements of sports beyond the competition itself.
League-Specific Findings
NFL
The Philadelphia Eagles led NFL teams in engagement per post (25K), followed by the Kansas City Chiefs (20.4K) and Detroit Lions (13.6K). The Lions showed remarkable growth, jumping 23 spots in the engagement rankings year-over-year.
Content featuring multiple player reactions to simple prompts performed exceptionally well, with the top five pieces averaging 1.3M engagements. Game highlight videos with on-screen text also excelled, particularly on TikTok, averaging 2.1M engagements with a 9.5x overperformance score.
NBA
The Los Angeles Lakers dominated NBA social media with 45.5K engagements per post, nearly double the Golden State Warriors’ 24.5K in second place. The Dallas Mavericks showed significant improvement, rising to third place with 11.3K engagements per post.
Influencer and celebrity content performed particularly well for NBA teams, with the top five posts averaging 321K engagements. The report highlights the Knicks’ success with courtside celebrity content and the Celtics’ creative approach to influencer features, including “Kai Cenat donning mafia attire.”
NHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs led NHL teams with 6.5K engagements per post, followed by the Pittsburgh Penguins (4.1K) and New York Rangers (3.8K).
Mic’d up content proved especially effective for NHL teams, with the Washington Capitals’ top five videos in this format averaging 74.1K engagements. The report notes these videos “featured enthusiastic player reactions in the aftermath of scoring a goal.”
Milestone graphics also performed well, particularly those highlighting historical achievements like “the first woman to coach an NHL game, as well as the first Chinese-born player to sign an NHL contract.”
MLB
The Los Angeles Dodgers dominated MLB social media with 28.6K engagements per post, more than double the second-place New York Yankees (12.3K).
Influencer content, particularly featuring K-pop stars, delivered exceptional results for MLB teams. The Dodgers “clearly made a point of emphasizing this style content, inviting numerous K-pop stars and other well-known musicians to attend and/or throw out the first pitch at their games.”
High-quality graphics and highlight videos with special effects also performed strongly on Instagram, with the Dodgers’ top graphics posts averaging 493K engagements.
Rising Teams
Several teams showed remarkable year-over-year improvement in engagement rankings:
- Washington Commanders: +45 positions
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: +37 positions
- Charlotte Hornets: +37 positions
- Carolina Panthers: +32 positions
- Texas Rangers: +31 positions
The Detroit Lions’ 23-position jump is particularly notable given their top-six overall ranking, indicating they’ve moved from the middle of the pack to elite engagement status.
Platform Strategy
The report highlights distinct platform strengths that sports marketers should consider:
- TikTok: Excels with highlight videos featuring on-screen text, multiple player prompts, and reactive content
- Instagram: Performs best with high-quality graphics, influencer content, and mic’d up videos
While most leagues see their best performance on Instagram, the NFL has found significant traction on TikTok, suggesting different audience preferences across sports.
Conclusion
The “2025 League Social Performance Report” shows that personality-driven content consistently outperforms traditional sports highlights across all leagues. Whether through mic’d up moments, player reaction videos, or influencer collaborations, content that showcases the human side of athletes generates the highest engagement.
For sports marketers, the findings suggest prioritizing content that highlights player personalities and creates emotional connections with fans. Platform strategy should be tailored to each sport’s audience.
The report concludes that teams looking to improve their social media performance should experiment with high-performing formats while finding authentic ways to showcase player personalities beyond their athletic performances.
Get the full report here.
STN Digital’s “2025 League Social Performance Report” reveals notable trends in fan engagement across the major U.S. sports leagues, with the NBA and NFL in the lead and personality-focused content emerging as the clear winner regardless of sport or platform.
Platform Performance and Audience Leaders
Among the “Big Four” professional sports leagues, the NBA maintains the largest social media presence, with the Los Angeles Lakers (63.8M followers) and Golden State Warriors (62M followers) leading all teams across leagues. The average NBA team boasts 16.6M followers, significantly outpacing the NFL (9.1M), MLB (5.2M), and NHL (3M).
While Instagram leads engagement for most leagues, TikTok has become particularly crucial for NFL content. The report shows TikTok accounted for 39 of the top 50 NFL posts, with an average of 1.4M engagements per post. For the NBA, Instagram claimed 38 of the top 50 posts, but TikTok delivered the highest engagement on individual team accounts.
“In terms of total engagement, TikTok accounted for 30 of the top 50 posts league-wide, with 23 of the top 30 posts related to the NFL,” the report states.
Content Categories Driving Engagement
Across all leagues, three content categories consistently outperformed others:
The report emphasizes that these formats succeed by showcasing player personalities rather than just game highlights, suggesting fans connect with the human elements of sports beyond the competition itself.
League-Specific Findings
NFL
The Philadelphia Eagles led NFL teams in engagement per post (25K), followed by the Kansas City Chiefs (20.4K) and Detroit Lions (13.6K). The Lions showed remarkable growth, jumping 23 spots in the engagement rankings year-over-year.
Content featuring multiple player reactions to simple prompts performed exceptionally well, with the top five pieces averaging 1.3M engagements. Game highlight videos with on-screen text also excelled, particularly on TikTok, averaging 2.1M engagements with a 9.5x overperformance score.
NBA
The Los Angeles Lakers dominated NBA social media with 45.5K engagements per post, nearly double the Golden State Warriors’ 24.5K in second place. The Dallas Mavericks showed significant improvement, rising to third place with 11.3K engagements per post.
Influencer and celebrity content performed particularly well for NBA teams, with the top five posts averaging 321K engagements. The report highlights the Knicks’ success with courtside celebrity content and the Celtics’ creative approach to influencer features, including “Kai Cenat donning mafia attire.”
NHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs led NHL teams with 6.5K engagements per post, followed by the Pittsburgh Penguins (4.1K) and New York Rangers (3.8K).
Mic’d up content proved especially effective for NHL teams, with the Washington Capitals’ top five videos in this format averaging 74.1K engagements. The report notes these videos “featured enthusiastic player reactions in the aftermath of scoring a goal.”
Milestone graphics also performed well, particularly those highlighting historical achievements like “the first woman to coach an NHL game, as well as the first Chinese-born player to sign an NHL contract.”
MLB
The Los Angeles Dodgers dominated MLB social media with 28.6K engagements per post, more than double the second-place New York Yankees (12.3K).
Influencer content, particularly featuring K-pop stars, delivered exceptional results for MLB teams. The Dodgers “clearly made a point of emphasizing this style content, inviting numerous K-pop stars and other well-known musicians to attend and/or throw out the first pitch at their games.”
High-quality graphics and highlight videos with special effects also performed strongly on Instagram, with the Dodgers’ top graphics posts averaging 493K engagements.
Rising Teams
Several teams showed remarkable year-over-year improvement in engagement rankings:
The Detroit Lions’ 23-position jump is particularly notable given their top-six overall ranking, indicating they’ve moved from the middle of the pack to elite engagement status.
Platform Strategy
The report highlights distinct platform strengths that sports marketers should consider:
While most leagues see their best performance on Instagram, the NFL has found significant traction on TikTok, suggesting different audience preferences across sports.
Conclusion
The “2025 League Social Performance Report” shows that personality-driven content consistently outperforms traditional sports highlights across all leagues. Whether through mic’d up moments, player reaction videos, or influencer collaborations, content that showcases the human side of athletes generates the highest engagement.
For sports marketers, the findings suggest prioritizing content that highlights player personalities and creates emotional connections with fans. Platform strategy should be tailored to each sport’s audience.
The report concludes that teams looking to improve their social media performance should experiment with high-performing formats while finding authentic ways to showcase player personalities beyond their athletic performances.
Get the full report here.