Premier League clubs hit 100,000,000 Likes combined

English Premier League sides recorded an enormous 100,000,000 Facebook Likes for all their Pages combined. The data – sourced from Sports Social Media monitoring platform ‘Social Pundit‘ – demonstrates just how influential football is in the social media world.

In less than 3 months, Premier League clubs have grown by 10 million which is staggering growth considering that’s the equivalent of the population of Greece suddenly signing up to Facebook and Liking an EPL side.

Facebook has quickly become a part of everyday football life and a trusted source for team line-up announcements, transfer confirmations and match day information. The sheer growth of the platform worldwide, but particularly in football, has also changed the way that the way the mainstream media has control over football news.

Social media like Facebook and Twitter have given clubs an incredible advantage over the traditional media industry in that no longer are they subject to the opinions and spin of journalists, but they have a clear and transparent platform to say what they want without interference. However, it’s important to note that this does work both ways – with fans often resorting to Facebook for complaints about poor team performance, lack of transfer activity and the leadership of a club.

Whilst Manchester United are still relatively new to Twitter, they’ve been an active user on Facebook over the past few years and with 36.7 million fans, they are the largest contributor to the leagues combined total. Interestingly, a quick look at the United Facebook Page shows that the majority of their postings are exclusively images – a strategy that the club have been keen to use on Google+ and Twitter.

With 100,000,000 Likes – it is indisputable that the value social media holds in the football industry is massive. Clubs that fail to properly think, equip and invest are not only missing a commercial opportunity, but they are far behind what the modern fan expects.