NWSL Opening Weekend on Facebook

Sport teaches us that preparation is key. It's when we've done all we can to face the battle where we're all fighting for the same goal, to win. Winning doesn't happen by accident, it's a thousand little moments where we choose to sweat that add up to a win during the game that counts.

When the Front Office sweats the same details, it shows us how we can capitalize on big sport moments with timely content that can make powerful statements.

So let's go on a journey and look at how the NWSL opening weekend comes to life in the digital space.
We'll start with Facebook, and I'll come back later with another post that highlights Twitter and Instagram. This collage shows Facebook cover photos of all nine NWSL teams this Saturday morning of opening weekend. Keep scrolling to see close ups of those teams that feature content highlighting their opening match.

Four teams chose action images (Boston, Kansas City, Washington and Houston). Seattle is the only team that highlights a single player (Megan Rapinoe). Two teams use a venue/pitch shot (Chicago and Sky Blue). Portland focused on a visual of it's name (Thorns, Rose City). Meanwhile Western New York's cover image is basically an advertisement for an off-field event. Only 3 out of the 9 have information about their opening match - do you feel that's a miss?

The growth of each team's presence on Facebook since opening day last year is fascinating.

Washington Spirit has seen the biggest growth in followers (+177%) with 9.8k "likes" currently.

Several other teams have more than doubled followers. The Portland Thorns FC jumped +135% (leads all teams with 23,806). Meanwhile FC Kansas City are up +114%, just trailing the Thorns with 23,556 followers.

Seattle Reign FC have soared +79% (20k). Sky Blue are up +40% (11.4k).

WNY Flash are up +31% (8k) while Chicago Red Stars followers have jumped by 30% (8.6k).

Boston Breakers saw a bump of +12% (9k).

These FO's reminds us that there is no time to dwell on how far we've come since the inaugural season one year ago.

Related Posts:
The NWSL Opening Weekend, As Seen Through Facebook Covers (April 2013)
The NCAA Final Four as Shared by Facebook