April 2026 was the second-most active month on record for Sport for Business members on social media. Over 15,400 posts were published across X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok in April, producing 3.64 million engagements and 14.2 million TikTok views.
In the third of a four-part series today, we turn our attention to Instagram, which has taken a big hit, down a third in engagement from last year, to a level not seen since 2022.
Thursday: Instagram
Friday: TikTok
In the infographics below, we have ranked each organisation across a range of metrics on each network, including the most active, the most engaged with, and the most engaging content, as well as, where possible, engagements per 1,000 followers.
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.
April 2026 Highlights on Instagram
Overview
Instagram activity fell 14% from last month’s high, to 3,969 posts, with engagements falling 53% to 2,022,900. This is a similar dip to the other social media channels after a blockbuster March.
Of greater concern is that the number of engagements is down by one-third from where they were twelve months ago (2.94 million), despite more content being posted. We have to go back to 2022 to find a similar level of engagement, and in April of that year, the number was driven by only 1,700 posts
Highlights
The NIFL (736, +6%) was once again the most active account on the platform, followed by the League of Ireland (633, -8%) and Leinster Rugby (189, +11%).
The GAA (3,257, +10%) topped the average engagement per post chart, with Ireland Football (2,625, -63%) in second, and Munster Rugby (1,883, -4%) in third.
In the same month last year, the GAA had an average engagement of 4,109, Ireland Football was up from 2,232, and Munster was down from 3,079. Leinster Rugby fell from 3rd to 4th and from 2,884 engagements per post to 1,537.
The NIFL (3,275) topped April’s engagements per 1,000 followers metric, climbing from second place in the same table last year. They swap places this year with the League of Ireland, and there is also a climb here for the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division from sixth to third, albeit with a dip in the number from 2,151 to 1,565.
Leinster Rugby’s collab Reel with All Black star Rieko Ioane was the most engaged piece of content on the platform in April, generating over 22,000 engagements.
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All the sporting organisations featured in these tables are full members of Sport for Business.
If you would like to be part of the Sport for Business community and see your organisation in our content, on our stages, and in the conversation happening every day around the commercial world of Irish Sport, email us today and let’s see what is possible.
Image Credit: Sport for Business
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