Umpf, the Leeds-based social media agency, has launched its second annual Sport Social Media Index of 148 British professional clubs.
Leicester City has been ranked top of the table, which grades British professional football, rugby and cricket teams according to social media performance by their official club channels.
Four of the top ten places – Leeds United (2nd), Ipswich Town (3rd), Sheffield Wednesday (4th) and Millwall (7th) – are occupied by Championship clubs, shifting the balance of power from the 2013 Sport Social Media Index, which saw six English Premier League teams in the top ten.
Launched in 2013, the index is produced by Umpf, partnered with William Hill. The annual Index is compiled by measuring the social media performance of each team based on algorithms and research from a team of seven people who looked at eight social media networks.
The team spent four months compiling data, which was then analysed by a panel of four judges who created the league table. It includes an overall table of all 148 teams, plus nine additional tables showing rankings based on each sporting league.
Amy Byard, social media account manager at Umpf, said: "Leicester City were promoted from the Championship to the Premier League in 2014 and, off the pitch, they upped their social media game, climbing from tenth to top this year.
"Not only does the club have a great breadth of social media channels, but it’s shown a strong understanding of tailoring content to suit the platform on which it is hosted. It’s clear that there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to social media from a department who are not just fleet-of-foot, but who have a very well-defined and well-planned social media content strategy."
Michael Sheehan, head of social media at William Hill, said: "Leicester clearly understand the value of investing in social media and have demonstrated a clear ability to not only promote the club’s efforts on pitch, but also use social to listen to the needs and desires of their fans.
The teams who topped the tables in their respective leagues are as follows:
- Leeds United (Championship)
- Leyton Orient (League One)
- Plymouth Argyle (League Two)
- St Johnstone (SPL)
- Castleford Tigers (Super League)
- Leicester Tigers (Premiership)
- Warwickshire (CC Div One)
- Worcestershire (CC Div Two)
