July was the most active month on social media for the Sport for Business member organisations in 2023 to date.

With over 12,400 posts and 5.2 million engagements, Olytico’s analysis features groundbreaking moments for Women’s Football, All-Ireland success for Dublin GAA, and stellar performances on the track, in the swimming pool, and on rugby and hockey pitches for Irish teams around the globe.

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.

 

 

July 2023 Highlights on Twitter

 

After a small drop in in June, activity on the newly renamed platform increased slightly during July, with 6,410 posts (+8%) generating close to 500,000 engagements (+53%).  While the number of posts is down on the same month in 2022, the engagement level is up by just under 15%.

The Ladies Football account (942, +49%) topped the activity charts as Cavan won the U16 A Final beating Cork after a replay.

 

The GAA in second (679, -6%) featured this wonder save from Eoin Murphy to deny Peter Duggan in the Senior Hurling Final.

 


And in third, Dublin GAA  (412, -4%) celebrated the 27 All-Ireland titles accumulated by the trio of Michael Fitzsimons, Stephen Cluxton and James McCarthy.

 


Hockey Ireland (292, +265%) secured Gold at the EuroHockey Championship II Final, Ireland Women’s Cricket (290, +159%) celebrated the career of Mary Waldron as she announced her retirement, and Gymnastics Ireland (27, +108%) congratulated Mimi Maloney on a job well done at the 2023 European Youth Olympic Festival in Maribor.

 

Ireland Football topped the engagement charts with an average of 785 engagements per post.

Special mentions to IWA-Sport (8, +100%) who congratulated Adam King as he competed at the National Para Athletics Championship, Cycling Ireland (26, +63%) as they celebrated success on the track for Lara Gillespie (link), and Golf Ireland (14, +40%) who congratulated Áine Donegan on her performance at the US Women’s Open (link).

 

Athletics Ireland (760) topped the ‘average engagements per 1,000 followers’ metric for the second month in a row as Ciara Mageean qualified for the 2024 Olympics in the 1500m

The most engaged with content Twitter in June came from Ireland Football as they celebrated Ireland’s first ever goal at a Women’s World Cup, the post celebrating Katie McCabe’s goal straight from a corner against Canada has generated over 8,000 public engagements to date

 

July 2023 Highlights on Facebook

 

 

Facebook activity increased for the second month in a row, July’s 3,870 posts were a 10% increase on the previous month and led to 1,170,566 engagements, a 50% increase on June.

The GAA (458, -10%) topped the activity charts for the fourth month in a row. In second, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (408, +14%) saw Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh receive the Player of the Match award, following Kerry’s victory in the 2023 TG4 All-Ireland Ladies SFC Semi Final against Mayo, and in third, Cricket Ireland (385, +8%) qualified for the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Irish Rugby (4,327, +39%) continue to dominate the Facebook average engagement per post rankings, with Paralympics Ireland (2,147, +850%) in second and the FAI (1,111, +79%) in third.

Paralympics Ireland (3,638) topped the average engagements per 1,000 followers metric, as well as providing the most engaged with content on the platform in July as they wished Jordan Lee a happy 23rd birthday, with the post generating an incredible 115,000 public engagements.

 

July 2023 Highlights on Instagram

 

 

Instagram activity increased 18.2% in July; the 2,215 posts generated 3.6 million engagements which was a 45% increase on the previous month.

The League of Ireland topped the activity charts once again, their 242 posts (-10%) included the announcement that the LOI was included in the new EA Sports FC 2024 video game.

 

 

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A post shared by League of Ireland (@leagueofireland)


In second, Athletics Ireland (201,+139%) celebrated Ciara Mageean as she smashed Sonia O’Sullivan’s national mile record to finish a superb second at the Diamond League in Monaco.

 


And in third, Ireland Football (137,-4%) took time out from their World Cup preparations to recognise the part grassroots football has played in the development of Women’s football in Ireland.

 

 

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A post shared by Ireland Football (@irelandfootball)


Swim Ireland (111, +236%) saw Daniel Wiffen clock 7:39.19 in the 800 Freestyle Final to finish fourth in the World, setting a new European Record in the process, Rowing Ireland (35, +218%) thanked all the athletes, coaches, umpires and volunteers that oversaw the 2023 Irish Championships and Basketball Ireland (117, +134%) wished their U16 squads the best of luck as they headed off to the Dussman Trophy.

Irish Rugby topped the average engagements per post rankings for the third month in a row with an average of 10,807 public engagements per post (+21%) as the Men’s U20 team booked their place in the World Rugby U20 Championship Final.

 

 

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A post shared by Irish Rugby (@irishrugby)


Dublin GAA in second (6,653, +107%) recognised Paul Mannion’s Man of the Match performance in the All-Ireland Final and in third, Ireland Football (6,399, +25%) celebrated Katie McCabe’s goal against Canada.

Horse Sport Ireland (482, +122%) introduced Seamus Hughes Kennedy as the new European Champion, Irish Sailing (202, +108%) brought us behind the scenes at the preparations for the Olympic Qualifier

 

 

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A post shared by Irish Sailing (@irishsailing)


And The Camogie Association (416, +68%) looked ahead to the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Championship Finals with this wholesome content.

 

 

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A post shared by Irish Sailing (@irishsailing)


For the second month in a row Athletics Ireland (8,654) took top spot for the ‘average engagements per 1000 followers’ metric as Rhasidat Adeleke turned pro, and finished second over 200m at the World Continental Tour Gold meet in Hungary.

 

 

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A post shared by Irish Sailing (@irishsailing)


The IRFU posted the top performing content on Instagram in July as they launched the Men’s home and alternate kits for the Rugby World Cup, with the post having generated over 50,000 public engagements to date.

 

July 2023 Highlights on TikTok

 

 

252 TikToks were posted by member organisations in July, an 18% decrease on June. These posts generated 410,983 engagements (-29%) and 4,372,773 views (-60%).

Once again, the URC topped the activity charts in July with 67 posts (-47%), their most viewed video featuring referee Hollie Davidson.

 

@urc A wholesome Hollie Davidson moment 🥹❤️ #rugby #referee #sports #unitedrugbychampionship ♬ original sound – EMMY

In second, Athletics Ireland (27,+22%) celebrated reaching another #espoo2023 European Final and in third, Dublin GAA (25,+317%) celebrated their All-Ireland win with friends and family post-match.

 

@dubgaaofficial James McCarthy bringing Sam into the banquet room 💙💙 #UpTheDubs #dublin #gaa #coybib #football #allirelandfinal #foryoupage #foryou ♬ original sound – Dublin GAA


When ranked by average engagement per post, the Ireland Football account (9,565) topped the charts for the fifth month in a row. In second, Irish Rugby (6,141) had the most viewed video of the month thanks to Jamison Gibson-Park, his reverse pass during training has been viewed close to 360,000 times, and in third, Dublin GAA (3,424) lifted ‘Sam’ for the 31st time.

The IRFU and the URC topped the viewing charts (1,136,625 and 1,049,886 views respectively).

With support for the WNT at fever pitch, Ireland Football generated close to 750,000 views and 86,000 public engagements on the platform during July, and for the second month in a row provided the month engaged with content for the month with this post looking back at Amber Barrett’s strike that secured the team’s place in the World Cup. The content has generated over 31,000 public engagements in the form of likes, comments and shares to date.

 

@ireland The Goal that got us here… #coygig #wnt #ireland #fifawomensworldcup #amberbarrett ♬ original sound – welcome

July 2023 Engagement Per 1,000 Followers

 

 

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