Super Bowl XLVIII on Facebook

Sports is inherently social. We are never fans alone. This year’s Super Bowl matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos saw millions of us connecting in real-time on Facebook, the go-to place for NFL fans to cheer their favorite team on to victory and collectively lick their wounds after a defeat. The Seahawks beat the Broncos in a 43-8 win.

More than 50 million unique people joined the conversation on Facebook to chat about the game. Our data editors tallied the posts, comments and “likes” related to Super Bowl chatter, and reported a total of approximately 185 million interactions.

Several moments throughout the game accounted for big spikes in Facebook chatter, like when Seattle’s Percy Harvin ran away with the ball at the top of the second half. In fact, the Seahawks dominated the top four out of five most-buzzed-about moments, with Denver’s first and only touchdown squeezing into the fifth spot.

Top Super Bowl Moments on Facebook

  1. Seattle’s Percy Harvin opens the second half with an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown
  2. Seattle’s Jermaine Kearse catches a 23-yard touchdown pass to extend his team’s lead with 2:58 left in the third quarter
  3. Seattle’s Malcolm Smith intercepts Peyton Manning and returns it for a touchdown in the second quarter
  4. The final whistle blows, giving the Seahawks their first Super Bowl crown
  5. Demaryius Thomas scores Denver’s first and only touchdown with three seconds left in the third quarter

Our data editors put together a couple of maps to show where each team has more Facebook fans. This first one is based on “Likes” to Official Team Pages for the Seahawks and the Broncos. We released this ahead of time to show where loyalties lie leading up the game, and it appeared that the Seahawks did not have much love outside the Pacific Northwest.

Top Super Bowl Moments on Facebook

  1. Seattle’s Percy Harvin opens the second half with an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown
  2. Seattle’s Jermaine Kearse catches a 23-yard touchdown pass to extend his team’s lead with 2:58 left in the third quarter
  3. Seattle’s Malcolm Smith intercepts Peyton Manning and returns it for a touchdown in the second quarter
  4. The final whistle blows, giving the Seahawks their first Super Bowl crown
  5. Demaryius Thomas scores Denver’s first and only touchdown with three seconds left in the third quarter

Our data editors put together a couple of maps to show where each team has more Facebook fans. This first one is based on “Likes” to Official Team Pages for the Seahawks and the Broncos. We released this ahead of time to show where loyalties lie leading up the game, and it appeared that the Seahawks did not have much love outside the Pacific Northwest.

As we looked at the chatter during the Super Bowl, however, the nation was more evenly split. Using permutations of “Go Broncos,” “Go Seahawks

Teams, athletes, sports personalities and other public figures joined in the conversation, too, transforming the way millions of us shared in the excitement of the day:

By Alex Walker, Facebook Consumer Content Manager & Dustin Cable, Facebook Data Analyst


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