AFL fandom growth on Facebook: Which team is the winner?
Back on March 25, 2010, I collected data regarding the number of fans of the official AFL team Facebook fan pages. It has been a while and I was curious as to which team had the most growth since the last time I looked. Did any team do a really good job picking up fans? Does that have any connection to how well the team did? (There are a whole bunch of other potential factors. I just haven’t looked at them.) The team at the top of the ladder for Facebook fan growth is the Essendom Bombers. The team at the bottom of the ladder is the Adelaide Crows. Teams not included didn’t have official pages on March 25, 2010.
| Team | Url | 25-Mar-10 | 3-May-10 | Difference |
| AFL | http://www.facebook.com/AFL | 88,546 | 99,722 | 11,176 |
| Essendon Bombers | http://www.facebook.com/Essendon | 44,511 | 52,126 | 7,615 |
| Collingwood Magpies | http://www.facebook.com/collingwoodfc | 26,314 | 31,366 | 5,052 |
| Western Bulldogs | http://www.facebook.com/Western.Bulldogs | 0 | 4,930 | 4,930 |
| Fremantle Dockers | http://www.facebook.com/fremantlefootballclub | 12,939 | 17,513 | 4,574 |
| St. Kilda Saints | http://www.facebook.com/stkfc | 21,310 | 25,106 | 3,796 |
| Melbourne Demons | http://www.facebook.com/MELBOURNEfc | 3,159 | 6,278 | 3,119 |
| Geelong Cats | http://www.facebook.com/GeelongCatsInsider | 1,632 | 4,745 | 3,113 |
| West Coast Eagles | http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Coast-Eagles/38862387223 | 33,501 | 36,559 | 3,058 |
| Port Adelaide Power | http://www.facebook.com/portadelaidefootballclub | 7,892 | 10,815 | 2,923 |
| Carlton Blues | http://www.facebook.com/OfficialCarltonFC | 12,693 | 14,932 | 2,239 |
| Richmond Tigers | http://www.facebook.com/Richmond.FC | 4,798 | 6,626 | 1,828 |
| North Melbourne Kangaroos | http://www.facebook.com/northkangaroos | 9,866 | 11,678 | 1,812 |
| Hawthorn Hawks | http://www.facebook.com/hawthornfc | 14,342 | 16,129 | 1,787 |
| Adelaide Crows | http://www.facebook.com/adelaidecrows | 39,546 | 41,246 | 1,700 |
Is there a correlation between a team’s performance so far this season based on their ladder position and the number of new fans? No, the correlation is -0.04002 where the Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions get zero new fans as they do not have a fan page. If those two teams are removed, -0.10666. That still is completely random. The cause for the big increase in fans is not dependent on team performance; other factors must explain the increase in fans.
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