This infographic from Social Media Examiner was created in 2013. I supposed it’s no surprise the fans of the San Francisco Giants were considered the “most engaged” fanbase in MLB, considering the Giants were in the midst of their 21st century World Series dominance era. Rankings were based on game attendance, ticket demand, and social media engagement.
I’ve had a few previous posts on here about MLB teams and social media, including this infographic about MLB fans on Facebook. I don’t believe I’ve previously posted anything like this regarding Twitter, however, so I suppose this is that post.
Here’s an infographic from 57hits.com that, instead of looking at the fans, takes a look at the number of Major League ballplayers on Twitter. The graphic appears to be from 2013, so the data isn’t up-to-date, though I do find it interesting that (at that time, at least) the AL East was far out ahead of the rest of the crowd.
I wake up this morning, and one of the first things I see on Twitter is this:
.@Matt_davidson24 now has seven homers at Kauffman Stadium this season.
That’s the most by a road hitter in a season EVER … It is April 27th. pic.twitter.com/JVBmGRVssC
— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) April 28, 2018
Quite the accomplishment for Matt Davidson, for sure, especially when you consider that Kauffman Stadium is not the most home run-friendly ballpark in the league.
As a Royals fan, however, this is the kind of statistic one dreads to see making headlines.
Davidson has had three multi-home run games already this season, and all three of those games took place — you guessed it — at Kauffman Stadium. And since the Royals and the White Sox are division rivals, Davidson will have six more games at the K (including today’s doubleheader) to add to his record.
Royals fans already knew this would be a long season. Now we’re just throwing salt on the wound.
I came across this graph from Statista listing the ten MLB teams with the most Facebook followers. The numbers listed are in the millions, and the data is current as of December 2017. I’m sure most of the teams that made the list would come as little or no surprise to most folks.
Feeding my seemingly growing obsession with baseball fan maps, the New York Times published this interactive map a couple days ago — again, based on Facebook data — that allows us to to zoom in on which team fans root for, down to the zip code. For example, I can tell you that my hometown contains 69% Royals fans, and my current neighborhood comprises 49% Royals fans. After the Royals, 12% of my current neighbors root for the St. Louis Cardinals, while 7% pull for the Boston Red Sox (…really?). Things get especially interested along both coastlines, where a greater saturation of teams results in a greater conflict of loyalties.
In addition to the large, nationwide map, the Times generated fourteen smaller maps, highlighting baseball’s biggest rivalries. If you would like to read the article and explore the interactive map, just click on the image below, and it will direct you to the site. Enjoy!
You may recall that, about a year ago, I posted this graphic of the United Countries of Baseball. While certainly an interesting infographic, I also knew it was a bit outdated (having been published in 2007). Yesterday, however, I found this treasure on Deadspin: a map created by the Facebook data team depicting the geography of teams’ Facebook fans. Check it out (click on the image for a larger view).
I love this. I really believe that the perception of baseball as a dying sport in American culture is little more than an illusion. The challenge lies in making the sport compatible with the changes in technology.
Click here for a larger image.
