With over 13,500 posts and 4.89 million engagements across X, Facebook, and Instagram, June 2024 set a new benchmark for activity by the Sport for Business member organisations and Olytico’s analysis.

The 13,526 posts beat the previous record set in July of 2022 (13,500), and we expect this to be broken yet again in July 2024 as the focus turns towards South Africa for the Rugby and Paris for the Olympics and Paralympics.

June’s TikTok analysis includes close to a million engagements, 13.6 million views and a piece of content from Ireland Football featuring Seamus Coleman that went ‘viral.’

With unprecedented success on the track, June 2024 was an incredible month for the Athletics Ireland social accounts, with nearly 850,000 public engagements generated. Alongside this, they finished first in the ‘highest engagement per 1,000 followers’ metric across all platforms.

As the first half of 2024 drew to a close, it allowed us to compare the X, Facebook, and Instagram data to the same time period in 2023:

 

  • 2023 posts published from January to the end of June    63,690
  • 2023 public engagements from January to the end of June 25,471,249

 

  • 2024 posts published from January to the end of June    72,627 (+14% v 2023)
  • 2024 public engagements from Jan to the end of June    31,418,097(+23% v 2023)

 

With anticipation of success high for the second half of the year, the potential for the Sport for Business member organisations across social media is unmatched, and 2024 has the potential to break all records.

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.

 

June 2024 Highlights on X

 

 

Activity on X rose 1.34% to 6,749 posts as engagements rose 45% to 374,965 in June. This can be directly attributed to the success on the running track and Athletics Ireland’s 127,656 public engagements.

The Ladies Football account topped the activity charts on X with 801 posts (+67%) as the Armagh Seniors applauded their U14s onto the pitch ahead of their All-Ireland Gold Final.

 

In second, the GAA (769,-21%) remembered Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, one of the legendary voices of Gaelic games, and in third, the League of Ireland (519,-37%) remembered Tommie Gorman.

 

Special mentions to Basketball Ireland (124, +176%), as teams from the Master’s programme travelled to Italy to compete in the FIMBA European Championships, to Cycling Ireland (370, +111%), who crowned Darren Rafferty as the new Elite Men’s National Champion, and Paralympics Ireland (68, +74%) as Mary Fitzgerald threw 7.51m in the Shot Put F40.

 


Athletics Ireland topped the X engagement charts with an average of 303 engagements per post (+110%) – their top ten posts all generated more than 2,000 public engagements and included Ciara Mageean’s European Gold and Sarah Lavin’s performances on the Continental Tour.

 

In second, Ireland Football (270, +76%) beat Hungary 2-1 as they prepared for EURO 2024, and in third, Team Ireland (188, +327%) featured Rhasidat Adeleke and her Mum in this wholesome content.

 

Sport Ireland (69, +263%) congratulated the Women’s 4x400m on their Silver in the European Final, and Volleyball Ireland (9, +200%) secured Bronze in the CEV Small Countries Championship.

 

With yet another magnificent month on the track, Athletics Ireland (2,608) topped the average engagements per 1,000 followers metric and with that, produced the most engaged with content on X in June.

With over 5,000 public engagements to date, this celebratory post as the Mixed 4x400m Relay team became European Champions took the top spot in June.

 

June 2024 Highlights on Facebook

 

 

Facebook activity fell 1.8% to 4,123 posts but generated over 952,000 engagements (+28.47%).

The GAA topped the Facebook activity charts with 490 posts, a 10% increase on their previous month’s output; their top post featured Galway’s victory over Dublin.

In second, the Ladies Gaelic Football account (451, +23%) saw Derry captain Karen Birt lift the cup following the All-Ireland U14 Gold Final victory against Armagh, and in third the League of Ireland (449,-30%) congratulated Finn Harps as they won the first ever League of Ireland Down Syndrome Futsal Cup.

Basketball Ireland (97, +177%) saw the Women’s 50’s defeat Germany to reach the FIMBA European Championship semi-final, the GPA (23, +109%) featured Limerick as they became six-in-a-row Munster Champions, and the FAI (54, +69%) looked back 30 years to a famous win v Italy at USA 94.

 

Team Ireland (2,933, +608%) topped the average engagement per post charts, Irish Rugby (1,790, +117%) in second saw the Men’s team fly out to South Africa ahead of their two-match test series with the World Champion Springboks, and in third, Athletics Ireland (602, +42%) celebrated the achievements of O’Donnell, Adeleke, Barr and Mawdsley on the track.


The BKT URC (352, +86%) crowned Glasgow Warriors as their 2023/24 Champions, and Special Olympics Ireland (112, +60%) congratulated all the athletes who competed in the Basketball Blitz day at Gormanston Sport Complex.

Athletics Ireland (4,151, +205%) once again topped the average engagements per 1,000 followers metric.

With over 90,000 public engagements to date, Team Ireland’s highlights of the 4x400m relay European Gold was the most engaged with Facebook post in June, with the footage having had over 8.9 million plays.

 

June 2024 Highlights on Instagram

 

 

Instagram activity fell again, 2.75% to 2,654 posts; however, engagements rose 38.7% to 3.56 million.

 

The Instagram activity charts were topped for the third month in a row by the League of Ireland (464, -22%) as they looked ahead to the European draws for their clubs.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by League of Ireland (@leagueofireland)


Athletics Ireland was in second with 346 posts, an increase of 249% and in third were the Ladies Gaelic Football Assoc (181, +50%) with Offaly’s All-Ireland Silver Final success.

 

Irish Rugby (66, +340%) took us into the Men’s team post-session recovery in the ice baths in South Africa.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Irish Rugby (@irishrugby)

The Northern Ireland national team account (109, +211%) featured another international goal for Liverpool’s Conor Bradley, and Horse Sport Ireland (57, +159%) took us behind the scenes with some of their Olympic athletes.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Northern Ireland (@northernireland)

 

Irish Rugby (7,602, ~) topped the average engagement per post chart, followed by Northern Ireland (5,233, +621%) and Ireland Football (4,688, +8%), who took us back to Lille 8 years ago with Robbie Brady’s goal against Italy.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ireland Football (@irelandfootball)

 

IWA Sport (29, +16%) bought us Britney Arendse’s 126kg lift as she aimed to seal her place at the Paralympic Games.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by IWA SPORT (@iwa_sport)

Athletics Ireland (11,636, +206%) took the top spot for the ‘average engagements per 1,000 followers’ metric, as they looked back on a magical night in Rome, they were followed by   Northern Ireland (4,365) and Team Ireland (2,954).

This ‘European Champions’ post from Team Ireland was the most engaged with post on the platform in June – to date, the post has generated over 63,000 public engagements.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Team Ireland (@team_ireland_olympic)

 

June 2024 Highlights on TikTok

 

 

340 TikToks (+11%) were published by Sport for Business members in June, which resulted in 953,878 engagements (+130%) and 13.65 million views (+48%).

Ireland Football (5.98 million), the URC (2.89 million), Team Ireland (1.3 million), and Athletics Ireland (1.05 million) topped the view counts.

As the URC season came to a close, they topped the activity charts with 109 TikToks, including this piece of sublime skill from Leinster’s Sam Prendergast.

 

@urc Sam Prendergast air walking 😍 #rugby #sports #unitedrugbychampionship ♬ original sound – United Rugby Championship

 

In second, Athletics Ireland (45) captured the power of the support behind the Mixed Relay Team’s success, proving that not all content has to be polished, and sometimes rough-and-ready footage is all that is needed to convey emotion and passion and take fans into the heart of the action.

 

@athleticsireland Irish fans and Irish athletes 🤝💚 Our superpower 🙌🇮🇪 #Rome2024 #IrishAthletics ♬ original sound – Athletics Ireland

 

In third, the Ladies Gaelic Football account (37) bought us the final whistle scenes as Galway defeated Cavan after an extra-time thriller to the U14 All Ireland Final.

 

@ladies_gaelic_football 'The most incredible game of football you'll ever see!' See All Ireland U-14 Final end-of-match scenes as Galway finally overcome Cavan after an extra-time thriller. #lgfau14 #fyp #foryou ♬ Disappear – Maniak-B

 

When ranked by average engagement per post, Ireland Football (32,667) topped the charts followed by Irish Rugby (4,887) as Bundee Aki turned his arm to cricket on tour in South Africa, and Team Ireland (4,539) celebrated the 4x400m quartet’s performance in Rome.

 

@irishrugby Bowledddd Bundee! 🏏😂 #TeamOfUs ♬ original sound – Irish Rugby

 

 

@teamirelandolympic EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS! 🔥 Whaaaaaat!!! 💚 Here’s how Ireland won a truly magnificent gold at the European Athletics Championships. A superb performance from Chris O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr & Sharlene Mawdsley 🥇☘️ #TeamIreland #athletics #ireland #gold #irishathletics #relay #europeanchampionships ♬ original sound – Team Ireland

 

However, one piece of content dominated the TikTok analysis this month, coming top in views (4.34 million), likes (248,739), comments (2,534) and shares (4,298). This content from Ireland Football takes the top spot for June, as Seamus Coleman and Ireland defeated Hungary 2-1 at the Aviva .

 

@ireland Life comes at you fast 🤗 #ireland #irelandfootball #troyparrott #szoboszlai #coleman #seamuscoleman #coybig #avivastadium ♬ original sound – Ireland

 

 

 

*******

 

If you would like to be part of the Sport for Business community and be added to the list, email us today and let’s see what is possible. If you would like a more detailed analysis of your social media activity, contact ross@olytico.com

 

 

Sport for Business will host its annual Sponsorship Showcase event in Dublin on Thursday morning, October 10th. This is one of many events planned for the remainder of 2024.

Register your interest to attend a Sport for Business event here.

 

The IRFU, GAA, FAI and Sport Ireland Ireland are among the 300 organisations, which include all the leading sports and sponsors, as well as commercial and state agencies, that are members of the Sport for Business community.

Find out more about joining us today.

Check out our upcoming events to discover ways of connecting in person with our membership.