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In the next month or so the All Blacks will add a further, perhaps lesser known but still amazing, achievement to their illustrious list of accomplishments – achieve their two-millionth Facebook ‘Like’.
At the moment, the All Blacks have 1,934,092 Likes. In the context of Australasian sport, that is a phenomenal total. Nothing comes close to it.
In fact, the All Blacks have nearly 500,000 more Likes than all 16 NRL clubs combined (1,514,071), and about 500,000 more than all 18 AFL clubs combined (1,485,294).
It’s quite possible the All Blacks have the most Facebook Likes of any entity, team, organisation or person in Australia or New Zealand. Everything and everyone in our two countries I’ve checked doesn’t come anywhere near the amount the All Blacks have accumulated.
If someone out there can show me one with more, I’d be very interested to see it.
A lot of the comments and messages on the All Blacks Facebook page are left in foreign languages, particularly, Spanish, French, German and Asian languages, proving the international appeal of the team and the brand.
A look at the number of Likes for rest of the teams in Super Rugby, NRL and AFL throws up a number of interesting points for discussion.
First, it’s not surprising the union international teams have higher totals, given the greater international exposure, listed in order All Blacks 1,934,092, Springboks 513,689, Wallabies 179,634, Kiwis 105,341, then Kangaroos 71,607.
The relatively poor showing of both Australian national teams was unexpected.
When it comes to State of Origin though, the passion of Maroon fans is something to behold, with the Queensland Maroons achieving 400,249 Likes to the NSW Blues 232,796.
On the competition front, Super Rugby (25,648) is blown out of the water by the AFL (500,134) and NRL (495,467). However, the 2013 rugby league World Cup (11,357) is a long, long way behind the 2015 Rugby World Cup, which already has 1,786,337 two years before kick-off.
As an aside, I was quite surprised my beloved Wigan RL had only 25,530 Likes. It’s one of the premier league clubs in the world, and I assumed it would have a much larger Facebook following. But most English RL clubs scored comparatively low, as illustrated by St Helens (12,968), Bradford Bulls (7,233), Warrington (23,988), and the Leeds Rhinos (41,439).
The English union clubs tended to be well ahead of their league counterparts, for example, Leicester Tigers (64,314), Gloucester (32,460), London Irish (30,044) and London Wasps (40,113).
League and union of course were both dwarfed by the major EPL teams – Manchester United with 31 million for example – although some EPL clubs scored extremely low given their massive international exposure, such as Everton FC (305,137) and Sunderland (70,145), perhaps a reflection of the huge gulf in resources between the top and bottom EPL clubs.
Below, I have listed the 49 Super Rugby, NRL and AFL clubs in order of most Likes. Some observations:
• The top 10 are comprised of four league, four AFL, and two union clubs.
• The bottom 10 are comprised of three AFL, one league, and seven union clubs.
• Both of the Super Rugby franchises in the top 10 are South African, showing that even on Facebook, Super Rugby relies completely on South Africa for any form of credibility or respectability.
• I am not sure if the Parramatta Eels have an official page, and the only one I could find relating to the club only had 289 Likes.
• The Brumbies have a lot of work to do to catch up to their local rivals the Raiders.
• The Waratahs are a disgrace.
What all this means is that while the allure and aura of the All Blacks is indisputable, they are the beacon of light for rugby union in Australasia.
In the world of Facebook, Super Rugby teams are not performing near their NRL and AFL counterparts. Is union in Australasia a one trick pony? I’ll leave that to you to decide.
The list of Most Facebook Likes for Super Rugby, NRL and AFL clubs:
333,765 Natal Sharks RU
267,241 Broncos RL
220,178 Essendon AFL
219,225 Collingwood AFL
204,125 Storm RL
149,157 Wests Tigers RL
134,216 West Coast Eagles AFL
129,439 Carlton AFL
120,704 Stormers RU
115,701 Rabbitohs RL
115,553 NZ Warriors RL
114,570 Bulldogs RL
112,725 Titans RL
110,641 Swans AFL
105,831 Blue Bulls RU
99,934 Richmond AFL
99,453 Crusaders RU
89,060 St Kilda AFL
87,599 Hawthorn AFL
77,991 St George RL
73,580 Reds RU
70,083 Manly RL
65,653 Fremantle AFL
64,925 Cowboys RL
59,797 Knights RL
56,612 Geelong AFL
55,903 Brisbane Lions AFL
48,198 Cronulla RL
47,536 Western Bulldogs AFL
46,077 North Melbourne AFL
43,475 Hurricanes RU
41,920 Panthers RL
40,555 Port Adelaide AFL
40,183 Suns AFL
36,568 Roosters RL
35,355 Blues RU
35,228 Raiders RL
34,905 Chiefs RU
29,829 GWS Giants AFL
26,162 Highlanders RU
16,555 Rebels RU
13,800 Western Force RU
13,098 Cheetahs RU
9,420 Brumbies RU
8,562 Adelaide Crows AFL
7,917 Warratahs RU
4,092 Melbourne AFL
1,076 Southern Kings RU
289 Parramatta Eels RL
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.