Irish Sport’s Social Engagement Jumps 69 Per Cent as Big Moments Cut Through

Irish sport’s social media accounts enjoyed a strong October, with public engagements rising by 69 per cent as league titles, world champions and international victories gave audiences plenty to celebrate.

The latest Sport for Business Social Media Report, produced with our partners at Olytico, tracked 15,992 posts across X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Together, they generated 5,159,186 public engagements, up from 3,058,232 in September.

Every platform saw higher engagement, but TikTok delivered the sharpest growth. Engagements there almost doubled to 1.12 million, while video views rose from 7.2 million to 14.6 million.

Instagram remained the biggest source of engagement overall, contributing 3.1 million interactions, or around 60 per cent of the total.

Shamrock Rovers’ 23rd Premier Division title, Lara Gillespie’s second rainbow jersey, Mona McSharry’s World Cup Triple Crown and the achievements of Ireland’s young boxers were among the sporting stories reflected across the month’s feeds.

However, a longer-term perspective explains the impressive monthly rise. October 2025 produced approximately 5.78 million engagements from 14,500 posts. October’s posting volume was about 10 per cent higher, while overall engagement was about 11 per cent lower. TikTok views also remained below the 18.34 million recorded a year earlier.

The figures are based on publicly available information and do not reflect paid or promoted content. Unless stated otherwise, percentage changes refer to September 2026.

 

X – Ireland Football Leads as Activity Rises

 

 

Activity on X rose by 29 per cent to 5,041 posts, while engagements increased by 32 per cent to 165,976.

The League of Ireland was the most active account, publishing 778 posts, ahead of the Northern Ireland Football League on 700 and Dublin GAA on 542.

Among the moments covered by the League of Ireland was Pádraig Amond’s spectacular bicycle kick for Waterford against Galway United. Dublin GAA, meanwhile, recognised Niall Scully’s selection on the PwC All-Star Football Team of the Year.

Ireland Football led the engagement-per-post rankings, averaging 324 interactions, with its coverage including the men’s Under-21 team reaching the European Championship play-offs after victory over England.

Munster Rugby followed on 98 engagements per post, with Irish Rugby third on 90. Munster’s content included a remembrance of Anthony Foley, ten years on from his death.

The League of Ireland led the engagement-per-1,000-followers measure at 238, while Ireland Football produced the month’s most engaged-with X post, featuring Troy Parrott. It had generated more than 21,000 public engagements at the time of Olytico’s report.

Despite the month-on-month increase, October’s 165,976 engagements remained below the 191,746 recorded on X in October 2025. Ireland Football’s average of 324 engagements per post, however, was well ahead of the 211 it recorded that month.

 

Facebook – Irish Rugby Leads as Engagement Rebounds

 

 

Facebook’s return of 762,671 engagements was up 63 per cent from September. Activity rose too, with 5,562 posts published, up 27 per cent.

The League of Ireland was again the most active account, with 686 posts, followed closely by the NIFL on 683. The BKT United Rugby Championship was third with 441.

Irish Rugby topped the average engagement-per-post rankings at 1,231, helped by coverage of the senior women’s 38–17 victory over South Africa in Cape Town.

The FAI followed with an average of 506 engagements per post, and the Northern Ireland national team account was third on 395.

Strong performances also came from a wider range of sports. Swim Ireland celebrated Mona McSharry completing a World Cup Triple Crown in the 100m breaststroke, while Team Ireland followed the start of the Dakar Youth Olympic Games.

Boxing Ireland led the engagement-per-1,000-followers measure at 1,091, as its European Under-15 Championship team returned to Dublin Airport with two gold, two silver and nine bronze medals.

The month’s most engaged-with Facebook post came from the GAA, featuring Ryan O’Donoghue after he was named PwC GAA GPA Footballer of the Year. It had attracted close to 8,000 public engagements at the time of the report.

 

 

Instagram – GAA Takes the Lead, but Football Delivers the Top Post

 

 

Instagram retained its position as the most powerful platform for public engagement in Irish sport, generating 3,109,340 interactions from 4,395 posts.

Engagement was up 64 per cent on September, while posting increased by 21 per cent. The result reinforces how much of the overall monthly improvement came through Instagram, which accounted for roughly six in every ten interactions measured across the four platforms.

The League of Ireland led the activity rankings with 697 posts, followed by the NIFL on 674 and Boxing Ireland on 396. Boxing Ireland’s output included coverage of John Donoghue winning a second world title.

The GAA topped the average engagement-per-post chart at 4,759, with its announcement of the PwC Football Team of the Year featuring six players from All-Ireland champions Mayo.

Ireland Football followed on 3,817 engagements per post, with Munster Rugby third on 2,462.

The SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division led the engagement-per-1,000-followers measure at 4,197, with its “Class of 2026” Team of the Year among the featured content.

Ireland Football produced the month’s leading Instagram post: a pitch-side view of Troy Parrott’s goal against Austria. It had generated more than 42,000 public engagements at the time of Olytico’s analysis.

October’s 3.11 million Instagram engagements represented a substantial recovery from September’s 1.90 million, but remained below the 3.76 million reported for October 2025.

The account leading the platform also changed. Ireland Football averaged 6,626 engagements per post in September, while the GAA took the top spot in October. The changing results underline how strongly performance can be shaped by the sporting calendar and the stories available to each organisation.

 

 

TikTok – Views Double as Personality and Celebration Win Attention

 

 

TikTok was the month’s fastest-growing platform. The 994 videos published by Sport for Business member organisations generated 1,121,199 engagements and 14.6 million views.

That represents a 34 per cent increase in posting, a 98 per cent rise in engagements and a 103 per cent increase in views. Average engagement per post rose from 763 to 1,128, while 23 videos passed 100,000 views.

Boxing Ireland was the most active account with 336 posts, driven by coverage of the European Under-17 and Under-15 Championships and the World Under-19 Championships. The NIFL was second with 125 posts, followed by the URC with 81.

Seven accounts passed one million views during October:

BKT URC 3.10 million
Ulster Rugby 1.85 million
Ireland Football 1.69 million
Boxing Ireland 1.47 million
Shamrock Rovers 1.36 million
League of Ireland 1.29 million
Northern Ireland Football 1.10 million

Shamrock Rovers’ title celebrations offered one of the clearest examples of a club making the most of a defining moment. Twelve posts between October 23rd and 25th generated 88 per cent of the club’s engagements for the month.

One dressing-room celebration video drew 618,932 views and 50,335 engagements, showing the value of bringing supporters into the moments around the final whistle.

The most engaged-with TikTok of the month came from Ulster Rugby. Its “It’s a unique accent” video attracted 1.32 million views, 105,666 engagements and 8,458 shares. That single post accounted for nine per cent of all member engagements and 21 per cent of shares measured on TikTok in October.

Three of the four most engaged-with TikToks focused on behind-the-scenes content or humour rather than match clips. For teams with a major event on the horizon, the lesson is to leave room in the content plan for the personalities and reactions that emerge.

 

 

 

Sport for Business Perspective

October shows how quickly the picture can change when Irish sport has a succession of moments that audiences want to celebrate and share.

The month-on-month rebound was substantial: more than 2.1 million additional engagements were generated compared with September. The improvement wasn’t simply a result of publishing more; engagements grew much faster than the number of posts.

At the same time, the year-on-year comparison suggests that attention remains hard-won. Organisations published more in October 2026 than in October 2025 but generated fewer total engagements. The sporting calendar, the content mix, and the accounts included can all influence comparisons, so the figures prompt closer examination rather than a simple verdict on performance.

The standout examples provide useful direction. The League of Ireland combined consistent output with strong engagement relative to its audience on X. Boxing Ireland turned a busy championship calendar into reach on TikTok and Facebook. The Women’s Premier Division demonstrated the value of measuring engagement against follower numbers. Ulster Rugby showed that a relatable piece of player-led content can travel far beyond matchday.

And Shamrock Rovers reminded us that winning the title is only part of the story. The celebration, the dressing room and the people involved can be just as compelling for the audience following along.

 

The Irish Sport Social Media Report is produced for Sport for Business by Olytico, using publicly available data. It does not include analysis of paid or promoted content.

To discuss a more detailed analysis of your organisation’s social media activity, contact ross@olytico.com.

 

 

 

Olytico and all of the sporting bodies featured in this analysis 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 and Olytico

 

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