theScore on Instagram, In a League of its Own
For your consideration: theScore on Instagram
theScore reinforced its reputation as one of the most engaging sports media accounts on Instagram this year, leading the pack in platform growth and interactions despite a heavily populated sports media landscape.
Since the start of 2019, theScore has continued to dominate with its Instagram strategy, cementing itself as one of the top sports media accounts in North America, according to third party data from Shareablee. The account has now surpassed 1.4M followers with nearly 400,000 followers coming in the past year. This growth was fueled by theScore’s commitment to original content and its ability to go live at the biggest events of the year around the world, including the 2019 NBA Finals, NFL Draft, MLB All-Star Game, NBA Awards, NBA Draft, Jumpman Fashion Week, Jordan Brand Classic, NBA All-Star Weekend, and other marquee events in sports and culture.
theScore also produced original and exclusive content pieces featuring high-profile athletes and cultural celebrities, tapping into the brand’s emerging focus on unique short-form videos. These pieces featured Steve Nash, Marshawn Lynch, Austin Rivers, Enes Kanter, Diamond Dallas Page, and Burna Boy, and were subsequently lifted and covered by other mainstream media outlets like ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump,” USA Today, Yahoo! Sports, Barstool Sports, NBC Sports, and HotNewHipHop.com, amongst others. Additionally, theScore’s focus on original content caught the attention of NBA rookie and Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant as well as the Phoenix Suns, who shared their love for a look at throwback retro jerseys posted by theScore on Instagram. This post reached nearly 2 million users and, following this, the Grizzlies themselves announced that they would bring back the classic jerseys.
theScore is one of the most influential social voices in sports media today. Its high engagement is a result of the brand’s audience-first approach, including on Instagram Stories, where the brand has a reputation for encouraging engagement via polls and questions. Coupled with other quick-hit, viral videos and stories from across sports and pop culture, theScore has successfully leveraged its leading mobile sports app capabilities by effectively branding scores, stats, and news with its Instagram audience. theScore on Instagram is a first stop destination for North American sports fans and is unlike any other sports media account today.
Success Metrics
theScore on Instagram has become one of the most consistent drivers of sports content on the platform. Achievements between January 1 and August 31 2019 include a growth rate of 31%, surpassing Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, House of Highlights, ESPN, Fox Sports, Barstool Sports and Sports Illustrated, as well an increasing interaction rate of 3.2%, consistently higher than that of Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, House of Highlights, Barstool Sports, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Fox Sports. Brands also continue to activate against our social content, with campaigns for Bose, Subway, Chevrolet, Microsoft, and DAZN this year.
This growth has paved the way for the brand’s new approach to original content with athletes and celebrities. In theScore’s first year with IGTV, its short form video content captured sport fans’ imaginations, with ‘Enes the Menace’ nominated for Best Documentary at the 2019 Cynopsis Model D Awards. The pseudo-documentary starring NBA center Enes Kanter and WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page produced an incomparable piece of content captivating basketball and wrestling fans alike. Utilizing a unique storytelling style, theScore brought Kanter’s well-established passion for wrestling to life in a way sports fans never would have expected.
See below for other high-performing content originally produced by theScore for Instagram: