After two record breaking months fuelled by the Rugby World Cup, Olytico’s Sport for Business analysis for November reflects a return to regular levels of activity and engagement.

Activity across X, Instagram and Facebook fell 4 percent to 9,351 posts and engagements fell 51 percent to 4.2 million.

For context, compared to November 2022, activity across the Sport for Business member organisations is up 11 percent (8,373 to 9,351 posts) whilst engagements are broadly in line with where they were, down just 2 percent (4.34 million to 4.2 million).

Activity on TikTok rose 33 percent and resulted in a 19 percent increase in views (6.3 million to 7.49 million).

The reason for the decrease in engagements across the analysis can be attributed mainly to the reduction in engagements on Instagram, and whilst still the most engaging platform by far, we saw a 51 percent decrease in engagements, primarily due to a smaller than usual output from the Irish Rugby account, naturally enough after the highs of the World Cup

November’s analysis includes the Irish Squash accounts for the first time, the beginning of the ‘End of Year Awards’ season and home court success for Nhat Nguyen at the AIG Forza Irish Open.

 

Read about our Inaugural Irish Sport on Social Media Conference that took place last month.

 

In the infographics below, we have ranked each of the organisations across a range of metrics on each network, including the most active, the most engaged with, and the most engaging content as well as engagements per 1,000 followers where possible.

It is important to note that this analysis is based on publicly available data. It does not include any analysis or insight on paid or promoted content. When % figures are used (unless otherwise stated), they refer to the previous month’s figures.

 

November 2023 Highlights on X

 

 

Activity on X fell by 6% in November, with 4,324 posts generating 283,021 engagements, a 49% decrease on the previous month.

The Ladies Football account topped the activity charts with 505 posts (+9%) as they announced Kerry’s Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh as the TG4 Senior Players’ Player of the Year. In second, Ulster Rugby (375, +44%) welcomed World Cup winner Steven Kitshoff to Belfast, and in third Leinster Rugby (368, +50%) posted the pic below of the three McCarthy brothers, as Andrew McCarthy the Leinster Rugby Culture Captain joined his two brothers, Paddy and Joe on the pitch after the game against the Dragons.

 

 

Swim Ireland (80, +300%) announced Daniel Wiffen as their 2023 Performance Athlete of the Year, Paralympics Ireland (66, +136%) wished Patrick Monaghan all the best ahead of the New York Marathon, a race in which he finished 8th and the GPA (34, +113%) congratulated Katie Taylor on her victory.

 

 

The Ireland Football account regained top spot on the X engagement charts with an average of 360 engagements per post, a 13% decrease on the previous month.

Top content for the month included a celebration of James McClean’s international career.

In second, Irish Rugby (277, -77%) looked forward to welcoming Stevie, one of the stars of this year’s Late Late Toy Show to the Aviva for a Guinness Six Nations match and in third, Munster Rugby (130, -42%) looked back at a memorable Champions Cup try from Andrew Conway as he announced his retirement from rugby.

 

 

The Camogie Association (30, +275%) announced Waterford’s Beth Carton as the PwC GPA Camogie Senior Player of the Year, Cricket Ireland (47, +147%) wished a Happy Diwali to their followers and Dublin GAA (42, +133%) congratulated Stephen Cluxton on his 2023 All-Star award. Badminton Ireland (49, +113%) celebrated Nhat Nguyen’s AIG Forza Irish Open victory as he beat Frenchman Alex Lanier in the final.

 

 

For the second month in a row, the FAI (1,252) topped the ‘average engagements per 1,000 followers’ metric as they sold out the Aviva for the Sports Direct Men’s FAI Cup Final.

 

Ireland Football’s announcement that Stephen Kenny’s contract would not be renewed following the conclusion of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualification process, was the most engaged with content on X during the month, generating over 5,000 public engagements.


November 2023 Highlights on Facebook

 

 

Facebook activity decreased by 2% in November (3,018 posts) but the platform saw a staggering 53% decrease in engagements, falling from 1.25 million to 587,000. This huge reduction in engagements can be explained by an 80% decrease in posts by the Irish Rugby account during November.

The Ladies Gaelic Football account topped the activity charts once again with 476 posts (+19%) as Kildare’s Róisín Byrne and Down’s Natasha Ferris claimed the Intermediate and Junior Player’s Player of the Year awards respectively. Leinster Rugby in second (252, +67%) gave fans a chance to say goodbye to Johnny Sexton ahead of their fixture with Munster at the Aviva, and the BKT URC (248, +19%) finished in third.

Athletics Ireland (162, +116%) made a historic announcement as Ciara Mageean and Rhasidat Adeleke become the first joint Athlete of the Year winners on the back of their outstanding seasons, and Triathlon Ireland (30, +76%) saw Elizabeth Carr make a successful return from a 16 month injury layoff as she placed second at the Africa Triathlon Cup.

Irish Rugby (1,750, -83%) continue to lead the Facebook average engagement per post rankings, followed by the Northern Ireland National Team (625, +69%) and the GAA (591, +36%).

Special Olympics Ireland (412, +409%) featured Transition Year volunteer Elle and athlete Emma from Naas Special Olympics Club after a great basketball session, and IWA-Sport (177, +254%) congratulated Sean O’Leary as he finished 2nd in his category at the Abu Dhabi World Para Jiu Jitsu Championships, and Cycling Ireland (50, +92%) hosted the Cyclo-cross World Cup.

Irish Squash (1,240) topped the average engagements per 1,000 followers metric, as the Connacht Senior Open was held at GLTC Squash Galway.

For the second month in a row, South African content from the URC proved to be the most engaged with content on the platform during November as they highlighted a phenomenal couple of years for Deon Fourie of the DHL Stormers. To date, the post has generated close to 23,000 public engagements.

 

 

 

October 2023 Highlights on Instagram

 

 

Instagram activity rose very slightly in November, with 2,009 posts generating 3.4 million engagements, a 51% decrease on the previous month.

 

The BKT United Rugby Championship topped the activity charts with 216 posts (+6%) – their top Reel featured the Connacht ‘Brick Wall’ on their tour of South Africa. In second, Leinster Rugby (203, +86%) featured Garry Ringrose’s #fromthegroundup journey to becoming Leinster Co-Capta, and in third, the League of Ireland (159, -30%) showcased Alex Murphy’s journey from the #LOI and Galway United to the Premier League and Newcastle United (linkin.

 

 

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A post shared by BKT United Rugby Championship (@urc)

 

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A post shared by Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby)

 

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A post shared by League of Ireland (@leagueofireland)


Swim Ireland (54, +286%) saw considerable success at the BUCS SC Championships as Loughborough’s Daniel Wiffen took Gold and BUCS records in the 400, 800 and 1,500m Freestyle, and Team Ireland (36, +260%) held their Olympic Ball crowning Sarah Lavin as the ‘PTSB Inspire a Nation’ Award winner as she confirmed her place in history books as the fastest woman in Ireland and broke national records in both the 100m hurdles and the 100m sprint.

 

 

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A post shared by Swim Ireland (@swimireland)

 

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A post shared by Team Ireland (@team_ireland_olympic)

Despite a 95% decrease in content published from the previous month, the Irish Rugby account with 8 posts during the month of November topped the average engagements per post rankings for the seventh month in a row with an average of 20,588 public engagements per post (-16%) as they looked forward to the 2024 Guinness Six Nations and home fixtures against Italy, Wales and Scotland. In second, Ireland Football (5,576, +6%) saw Johnny Sexton swapping jerseys with James McClean ahead of McClean’s final Ireland appearance, and in third, Munster Rugby (3,951, -17%) made an early claim for URC Try of the Season at the Aviva.

 

 

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A post shared by Swim Ireland (@swimireland)

 

 

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A post shared by Munster Rugby (@munsterrugby)

The LGFA account (344, +110%) announced their 2023 TG4 LGFA All-Star Team with representation from Dublin (8), Kerry (5), Cork and Mayo (1 each), Cricket Ireland (755, +94%) saw their Emerging Ireland squad start their first-class fixtures in the West Indies, and Dublin GAA (2490, +49%) launched their new Staycity branded jerseys for the forthcoming season.

 

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A post shared by Cricket Ireland (@cricket_ireland)

 

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A post shared by Dublin GAA (@dubgaaofficial)

The League of Ireland (3,463, +37%) took top spot for the ‘average engagements per 1,000 followers’ metric, as Waterford gained promotion to the Men’s Premier Division for 2024.

 

 

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A post shared by League of Ireland (@leagueofireland)


As with Facebook, the URC’s Deon Fourie post was the most engaged with content on Instagram in November, proving that content can work well cross platform. On Instagram their post generated close to 40,000 public engagements.

 

November 2023 Highlights on TikTok

 

 

 

213 TikToks were published in November by member organisations, this 33% increase on last month’s 160 led to 498,267 engagements (-11%) and 7.49 million views (+19%).

Views were driven by Ireland Football (1.9 million), Ulster Rugby (1.6 million), URC (1.4 million) and Leinster Rugby (1.2 million).

Leinster Rugby (59 posts) topped the activity charts as Sam Prendergast was interviewed after crossing for a try against Scarlets in his first RDS start, followed by the URC and Connacht (both 30) as Connacht’s top post revealed their players were big fans of Justin Bieber.

When ranked by average engagement per post, Ulster Rugby topped the charts for the second month in a row (10,827), followed by Ireland Football (7,146) as Liam Scales completed a full interview in Irish and the URC (3,214).

Outside of rugby and football, Athletics Ireland posted the top content as sisters Holly and Freya Renton both made the National Cross Country podium in Gowran, claiming Gold and Bronze respectively.

Ulster Rugby published the piece of content that generated the most public engagements in the form of likes, comments, and shares. As they asked their squad ‘What kind of coat do you put on wet?’ , the clip has generated close to 60,000 public engagements and been viewed over 100,000 times to date.

 

@officialulsterrugbyCan you figure it out ? 🤔🤣

♬ original sound – Ulster Rugby


 

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