New research from Betway has revealed which NBA teams have experienced the fastest growth in fans online over the last year.
By analyzing follower growth on Instagram over the last 12 months, the Golden State Warriors experienced one of the biggest jumps in followers in the NBA.
Photo: Getty ImagesHaving a strong online presence on social media channels has become an extremely important factor for the modern NBA franchise, with platforms such as Instagram providing great opportunities for teams to communicate directly with their fans and create an online community.
The best way of measuring online communities and fanbases is through one metric: followers. By looking at how follower counts are growing, we can get an insight into which team’s online fanbase is growing the fastest – with NBA Finals appearances providing a massive boost in this department.
To discover this, Betway analyzed the growth in followers of every NBA team’s Instagram account over the past year and ranked them in order to reveal which fanbases are growing the fastest.
The following table ranks every NBA team based on the yearly growth in followers (%):
| Team | Username | Yearly growth in followers (%) |
| Phoenix Suns | @suns | 39.46% |
| Milwaukee Bucks | @bucks | 35.48% |
| Golden State Warriors | @warriors | 35.16% |
| Memphis Grizzlies | @memgrizz | 33.20% |
| Brooklyn Nets | @brooklynnets | 33.06% |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | @cavs | 32.78% |
| Chicago Bulls | @chicagobulls | 32.14% |
| Charlotte Hornets | @hornets | 25.76% |
| Atlanta Hawks | @atlhawks | 24.97% |
| Philadelphia 76ers | @sixers | 23.41% |
| Dallas Mavericks | @dallasmavs | 21.24% |
| San Antonio Spurs | @spurs | 19.02% |
| LA Clippers | @laclippers | 18.23% |
| LA Lakers | @lakers | 17.99% |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | @timberwolves | 17.71% |
| Indiana Pacers | @pacers | 16.71% |
| New York Knicks | @nyknicks | 16.50% |
| Miami Heat | @miamiheat | 15.98% |
| Denver Nuggets | @nuggets | 14.96% |
| Boston Celtics | @celtics | 14.65% |
| Sacramento Kings | @sacramentokings | 12.51% |
| Portland Trail Blazers | @trailblazers | 11.89% |
| Toronto Raptors | @raptors | 10.33% |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | @okcthunder | 10.09% |
| Orlando Magic | @orlandomagic | 9.42% |
| Utah Jazz | @utahjazz | 8.62% |
| Detroit Pistons | @detroitpistons | 8.48% |
| Houston Rockets | @houstonrockets | 7.60% |
| New Orleans Pelicans | @pelicansnba | 6.46% |
| Washington Wizards | @washwizards | -4.19% |
With the Suns and the Bucks at the top of the leaderboard, it’s hard to ignore the impact that their NBA Finals encounter has had on their follower counts. One of this season’s finalists, the Golden State Warriors, also make an appearance in the top 3 fastest growing fanbases, with the Warriors gaining an impressive 35.16%.
At the very bottom of the leaderboard, the Washington Wizards have actually LOST followers over the past year, with their followers count dropping by 4.19% – the only team in the league to lose followers.
Methodology
Betway analyzed the follower counts on Instagram for each NBA team over the last 12 months.
Data accurate as of 24th May 2022.
Featured Image: Getty Images
