With over 16 million views on TikTok and 7.19 million public engagements across X, Facebook, and Instagram, March 2024 was a stellar month on and off the pitches, and tracks, of Europe for the Sport for Business Member organisations.

March 2024 was the second-highest month for activity since Olytico’s analysis began, and with over 13,000 posts analysed, highlights include success for Team Ireland on the track, Irish triumphs at Cheltenham, and back-to-back Guinness Men’s Six Nations titles.

It has been 12 months since the inclusion of TikTok within Olytico’s analysis, and the growing importance and weight of the platform can be illustrated with over 3,800 posts having been published resulting in the generation of 10.5 million public engagements, and a whopping 153 million views during the period.

 

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.

 

March 2024 Highlights on X

 

 

Activity on X rose 36% to 6,400 posts, but after an increase last month, engagements on the platform fell 8.5% to 362,000.

The Ladies Football account topped the activity charts for the third month in a row with 922 posts (+58%) as Ella O’Neill was remembered in Cork before the Moynihan Cup Final.

 

In second, the League of Ireland (664, +48%) saw Derry City’s Brian Maher get called into the Irish Camp, and in third Dublin GAA (599, +33%) Senior Men’s Footballers reach the Allianz League Final.

 

 

Irish Squash (22, +450%) welcomed a €58,000 increase in core grant funding from Sport Ireland, and Horse Racing Ireland (229, +157%) featured a homecoming fit for Cheltenham heroes, as Galopin Des Champs, State Man and all of Closutton’s winners returned to Leighlinbridge.

 

 

As they secured the Guinness Men’s Six Nations Championship, the Irish Rugby account remained at the top of the X engagement charts with an average of 454 engagements per post (-39%), as Tadhg Beirne won his 50th cap against Scotland.

Ireland Football in second (317, +1%) recognised World Down Syndrome Day as they invited the brilliant Ireland Futsal Down Syndrome team to training, and in third, Cricket Ireland (206, +524%) created history with their first Test win, defeating Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi by six wickets.

 

 

 

Athletics Ireland (101, +80%) celebrated superb world championship performances from the 4x400m relay team and Sarah Lavin.

 

 

 

Special Olympics Ireland (7, +75%) showed the true spirit of Special Olympics across athletes, volunteers, families, partners + patrons, and Vision Sports Ireland (10, +25%) congratulated Paralympian Jason Smyth and Karen Byrne as they were crowned ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Champions for 2024.

 

 

 

The League of Ireland (466) topped the average engagements per 1,000 followers metric as Wilson Waweru’s backheel claimed all three points for Sligo Rovers against Drogheda United.

 

 

As they became back to back Guinness Six Nations Champions, it’s little surprise Irish Rugby  published the most engaged with content on X in March, this ‘Champions’ post has generated close to 12,000 public engagements to date.

 

 

March 2024 Highlights on Facebook

 

 

Facebook activity rose 34% in March to 4,139 posts which led to 973,516 engagements, a small   1% increase on the previous month.

The Ladies Gaelic Football account topped the activity charts with 537 posts (+14%), with the League of Ireland (431, +129%) in second, and the GAA (422, +59%) in third.

Irish Rugby (2,632, -69%) topped the average engagement per post chart, followed by Cricket Ireland (1,173, +228%) as they brought their own Honours Board to Abu Dhabi, and the Northern Ireland National Team (764, +136%) as Liverpool’s Conor Bradley scored his first senior international goal.

 

The BKT United Rugby Championship (433, +149%) celebrated a famous Italian win, and IWA-Sport (49, +133%) saw a new lifetime best of 76kg and the NEXT GEN Gold Medal for Niamh Buckley from Cork at the World Para Powerlifting Championships in Dubai.

 

For the fifth month in a row, Irish Squash (2,180) topped the average engagements per 1,000 followers metric as they announced their U13 and U15 squads for the 5 Nations tournament in Wales.

 


Victory against Scotland secured the Six Nations for the Irish Men’s team, and this graphic was the most engaged with post on the platform, with over 35,000 public engagements to date (key to Irish Rugby generating over 150,000 engagements on Facebook in total in March).

 


March 2024 Highlights on Instagram

 

 

Instagram activity rose 41% in March (2,783 posts), but engagements fell by 0.4% to 5.86 million. 74.6% of those published were traditional Instagram posts with 25.4% coming from Reels.

The League of Ireland topped the activity charts with 460 posts (+51%) with their top Reel showcasing some silky skills from St Pats’ Chris Forrester.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by League of Ireland (@leagueofireland)

 

In second, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (219, +196%) brought us an Aimee Mackin magic moment from the O’Connor Cup archives, and in third, Irish Rugby (182, -8%) and Peter O’Mahony took the fans with them as they brought the Six Nations trophy back into the changing room.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Irish Rugby (@irishrugby)


The LOI Women’s Premier Division (164, +382%) featured the finish below from Bohs’ Fiona Donnelly, Irish Sailing (23, +156%) celebrated International Women’s Day with the women of Irish Sailing past and present, and Golf Ireland (45, +96%) appointed Rosemary Tully as their new President.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Irish Sailing (@irishsailing)

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Golf Ireland (@golfirelandofficial)

 

Irish Rugby continued to dominate the average engagement per post chart (13,353, -22%), followed by Ireland Football (8,258, +41%) as they launched their new shirt with partners Sky and Castore, and Dublin GAA (6,715, -13%) confirmed their Men’s Minor Football panel for 2024.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ireland Football (@irelandfootball)

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Dublin GAA (@dubgaaofficial)

Special mentions to Rowing Ireland (508, +75%) as Derek Holland won the SportMaker Club Performance Coach of the Year Award, Hockey Ireland (432, +53%) as The Royal School Armagh were crowned Kate Russell All Ireland Schoolgirls’ Champions 2024, and Gymnastics Ireland (228, +49%) as Dominick Cunningham qualified for the vault final at the 2024 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Baku.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Hockey Ireland (@hockey_ireland)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Gymnastics Ireland (@gymnasticsire)


The LOI Women’s Premier Division (4,972, +231%) took top spot for the ‘average engagements per 1,000 followers’ metric.

Irish Rugby generated the most engaged with content on Instagram in March, with their ‘Champions’ graphic proving that content will work across platforms – the graphic on Instagram has generated close to 100,000 public engagements to date, almost ten times the amount of engagement the same graphic gained on X.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Irish Rugby (@irishrugby)

 

March 2024 Highlights on TikTok

 

 

 

385 TikToks (+19%) were published in March by member organisations, which led to 996,480 engagements (+6%) and 16.47 million views (+25%).

Five member organisations generated over one million views – Ireland Football (5.1 million), HRI (3.55 million), Irish Rugby (2.25 million), Leinster Rugby (1.79 million), and the URC (1.16 million).

Ladies Gaelic Football (67) topped the activity charts as they featured Dublin against Waterford, followed by the URC (63) as Aimee Barrett-Theron had the final word, and HRI (52) as Willie Mullins’ army arrived at Cheltenham.

 

@ladies_gaelic_football Jennifer Dunne to Kate Sullivan for Dublin in today’s @lidlireland win in Waterford.. From Live Stream.. #Igfa #dublin #gaa #pass #point #score #waterford ♬ Beautiful things – audios🫡

 

@urc Respect the rugby values 🤝 Northlands Girls’ High School’s Aimee Barrett-Theron with the final word 🔥 #rugby #sports #unitedrugbychampionship ♬ original sound – United Rugby Championship

 

@hriracing Answering the #GreenTeam’s call 📞 Willie Mullins’ army has arrived at Cheltenham #cheltenham #irishracing #horseracing #horse ♬ original sound – tarahowleymusic

When ranked by average engagement per post, Irish Rugby top the charts (11,207), followed by Ireland Football (10,769) and HRI (4,339).

With close to 600,000 views, and over 57,000 likes, Irish Rugby and singing content generated the top post on TikTok for the second month in a row. Moving on from Stevie Mulrooney, it was the Irish Men’s squad rendition of Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’ post-match that generated the most public engagements chart on TikTok in the form of likes, comments, and shares.

 

@irishrugby 🎶 ‘And as the feeling grows…’ #TeamOfUs #SixNationsRugby ♬ original sound – Irish Rugby

 

 

 

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