Data Shows MLBers Lag Behind Other Athletes On Social Media

Dodgers 3B Justin Turner has led all MLBers in terms of interactions and video views across social media over the past year, but his numbers pale in comparison to leaders in other sports like the NFL, NBA, NHL and NASCAR, according to an analysis of data from measurement firm Hookit. Across the top 100 athletes on social media from March 1 last year through March 1 this year, no active MLBers cracked the list, with ESPN/Fox analyst Alex Rodriguez the only one with baseball ties on the list. Turner had 13.9 million social interactions and video views in the measured time frame. By comparison, Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. led all NFLers with 219 million interactions/video views, while LeBron James led NBAers with 311.9 million. Even the NHL leader -- Predators D PK Subban -- had 28.5 million interactions/video views. The chart below lists the top MLBers in terms of social media interactions/video views. Data from Hookit shows the social media traffic for athletes across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. An interaction is defined as a view, like, comment or share of a post that was generated by the specific athlete.

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VALUE ADDED: Blue Jays P Marcus Stroman was second in terms of MLBers for interactions/video views on social, but was the top MLBer in terms of driving value for a sponsor. Stroman in the measured period created $1.2M in social media value for sponsors Jordan Brand and Nike. Among all MLBers, New Balance saw the biggest return on social from its endorsers, which include Astros 2B Jose Altuve, Mariners DH Nelson Cruz and Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia. The brand in total saw $2.2M in value from its roster of MLBers on social media. Among MLB teams’ official social accounts, AT&T was the brand that received the most engagements. There were three teams that drove 12.3 million interactions for the brand.