New data from HypeAuditor shows New South Wales State of Origin rugby league players have experienced, on average, a much higher growth of their Instagram followers than Queensland counterparts.
On average, over the past 30 days, Queensland players gained 1,300 new followers apiece during the State of Origin campaign. But NSW players came out on top, with an average of 2,500 new followers each.
Queensland player Patrick Carrigan had the fastest growing Instagram account across the two teams, with a 38 per cent growth in followers. The Brisbane Broncos star overcame his horror ACL injury from 2021 to become the first player in their debut series to win the Wally Lewis Medal, after his outstanding Game 3 performance.
NSW player Matt Burton had the fastest growing Instagram account across the state, with a 29 per cent growth in followers. The Penrith Panthers centre, who was also playing his debut Origin series, was instrumental in the Blues’ win in Game 2 — earning him a slew of new online fans.
Instagram follower growth aside, members from the reigning premier Panthers squad are overall the most popular on social media among the Origin players. Out of the Top 10 players from the 2022 State of Origin, six players are from the NSW Blues and only four are from the QLD Maroons.
Below are the top 10 players from the 2022 State of Origin and how much they can charge per sponsored post:
Similarly, the engagement rate (ER) amongst the NSW accounts is higher than the QLD accounts, with NSW averaging an ER of 11 per cent versus a QLD ER of nine per cent. ER on Instagram shows how good the quality of the posts is and how well an account interacts with its followers. A good Instagram ER is between two to three per cent and anything above three per cent is considered high engagement, so players from both teams record outstanding engagement with their followers.
“Many of the State of Origin players already have lucrative sponsorship deals with brands such as My Muscle Chef, ASICS Australia, and Tradie. With such impressive engagement rates across the boards, brands can be confident knowing they are partnering with influencers with high quality followings, rather than bots and fake accounts. Understanding these audiences can be key to brands getting good returns for their influencer marketing investment,” said Alexander Frolov, CEO and co-founder of HypeAuditor. “As the NRL season goes on, no doubt these players will continue to grow in popularity as we enter the finals campaign.”
