Social media and sport: Deep dive into how our biggest athletes use social media
They are some of the biggest names in Australian sport. And if you have social media, it is hard to miss them. See which Aussie athletes have the biggest influence online.
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The all-mighty thumb has never been so powerful.
Israel Folau’s chiselled 104kg frame is loaded with cross-code weapons and yet it was his right pollex which poleaxed his Rugby Australia career.
It took a mere “double tap” from deeply religious AFL legend Gary Ablett, where he ‘liked’ Folau’s homophobic Instagram post, to recharge that news cycle.
When Jarryd Hayne was sentenced to at least three years and eight months in prison for sexual assault, supportive Instagram stories from former teammates and close friends Tony Williams and Krisnan Inu followed. After referring to the woman involved as the “so-called victim”, Williams’ contract with the New York Freedom was torn up, while Inu is still being investigated by English club Salford.
Nick Kyrgios earned 21,000 likes for tweeting that COVID idiot Novak Djokovic was a “tool”.
Along with his bushfire relief fundraising efforts, it was the baseliner’s best backhand for the summer. Kyrgios, the one-time spoiled brat did the unthinkable and retouched his public image.
Last week basketballer Liz Cambage sent shockwaves through Australia’s Olympic Games plans by threatening to boycott Tokyo because of the “whitewashed” promotional photoshoot.
Cambage then squealed “I’m in baby, woo!” on Instagram. The short selfie video in a car tied the knot on a story exclusive to Cambage’s social army.
The dark side ranges from nastiness to pure evil. Almost every athlete has been subjected to abuse; be it from failed punters, racist trolls or deranged supporters.
One alleged stalker has been charged with threatening to rape the wife of Richmond star Dylan Grimes.
“As athletes it’s important to set it up the right way with the right filters, because there are a lot of people trying to shoot you down,” Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury told News Corp.
Players used to fear eyeballs on them when they revelled late into the night.
Now the threat of camera phones is keeping many at home. Click, click, click is the sound of their social freedoms eroding away.
They are paid to star under the MCG’s bright lights – not in some nosy, drunken lout’s Snapchat.
“You’re dealing with d***heads that pull out their phones at a nightclub and are just trying to film something to put on social media,” social-savvy Brownlow Medallist Patrick Dangerfield said this week.
Logging off would be commercial suicide.
Telstra’s partnership with the AFL and NRL is a goldmine for the players in both codes.
In the AFL, the game’s 817 players each pocket $1000 in their retirement account for showing some social love for the telco giant.
A handful of marquee players from each club then bank a $20,000 bonus, as well as a free phone on a free plan, for publishing extra posts as AFL-contracted ambassadors.
Telstra’s multi-million dollar marketing spend hits every key demographic and, for the players, it is fast and easy cash … although clubs are wary the league is encroaching on their partners.
Exhibit A in the NRL is Roosters superstar James Tedesco, who regularly promotes Telstra on his Instagram page and has appeared in a television commercial for the NRL’s major sponsor.
Dustin Martin’s Instagram is flooded with sponsored posts for vitamins, luxury watches and undies.
‘Dusty’ can make a six-figure sum from a single autograph session where he inks premiership memorabilia, but that would feel like loose change next to the social coin.
Newcastle Knights star Kalyn Ponga’s social media feed is an eclectic mix of film photography and a platform to market his latest enterprise, Goo-C, an alcoholic beverage company that brews beer, vodka and gin.
The average person scrolls through almost two Olympic swimming pools (100m) on social media each day.
How do you create thumb-stopping content?
BMX bandit and dual Olympian Caroline Buchanan knows better than most.
Buchanan’s 170,000 Instagram followers leaves plenty of AFL and NRL stars in her dust.
She picked up 23,000 almost overnight after posting a graphic hospital photo, where dried blood was splattered over her face and chords were plugged into her chest like the bottom of a TV cabinet.
Buchanan had her sternum crushed in an off-road vehicle accident and allowed her fans a peek through the curtain at the life-or-death moment.
She had to. It was one of Buchanan’s three golden rules to social success – you must be authentic, be vulnerable and post consistently.
It doesn’t get any more real than Chris Gayle, decked out in his own “333” merchandise, live streaming A-list beach parties with DJs pumping beats as bikinis and cocktails pop across the screen.
And it doesn’t get any more, err, revealing than 66-year-old Greg Norman walking his dog in a pair of overworked blue swim shorts.
But staying connected is challenging.
“As hard as it is, social media rewards consistency,” Buchanan said.
That’s why AFLW star Tayla Harris crept off the training track last season to hit the button on an Instagram post.
At Carlton, digital ‘likes’ didn’t cross over into real life for Harris, and now she wants the Blues to pay her $150,000 … mostly for marketing off the field, rather than for kicking goals on it.
Does AFLW’s poster girl have a point?
Harris has seven-times more Instagram followers than Harry McKay, the out-of-contract Coleman Medal leader, who is valued by rival clubs at $850,000 per season.
David Warner falls on the lighter side and Melbourne’s carnivore full-forward Tom McDonald perhaps on the heavy side.
Warner’s Tik Toks go viral. A 12-second clip of Warner and his Ironwoman wife Candice switching between ODI and triathlete kits has been watched 3.6 million times globally.
Last week McDonald posted a photo of his weekly “meal prep” on Instagram – five large steaks sitting in Zip lock bags on his kitchen bench.
Social justice is the go for others.
Heatwaves in Sydney and Melbourne are likely to reach 50C by 2040, threatening the viability of summer sport.
That was the sizzling climate change warning Australia’s golden cricketer, Patrick Cummins, pushed on his platform in February.
But the hangover from the tragic end to Sydney champion Adam Goodes’ career has plenty of Indigenous players hesitant to speak out against racism.
Not so NRL superstar Latrell Mitchell.
After years of endless racist, vitriolic abuse online, Mitchell took matters into his own hands and had two men charged.
“It only takes that one message for someone not as strong as me, that can’t take the criticism, for them to go and some self harm. That’s all it takes one word. Today, I’m taking a stand,” Mitchell said.
But when Hawthorn’s Chad Wingard listened to Goodes and believed mainstream media twisted his words, he slapped on a self-imposed media ban and took to Twitter to educate last year.
“I want to be in control with what I’m saying,” Wingard said.
He felt angry, and then, ashamed as Australians stood following the murder of black American George Floyd.
I dont trust our media anymore! Until things change i wont be doing any interviews im not contracted to do! Ill be sharing my own thoughts and content!
— chad wingard (@chadwingard20) June 1, 2020
Like Floyd, Aboriginal man David Dungay yelled “I can’t breathe” only to die in custody in 2015.
There was little outrage and certainly no #BlackLivesMatter movement.
“Our backyard is burning,” Wingard said.
“What’s the difference? Both men lost their lives because of the colour of their skin.”
Pendlebury said free-spirited ruckman Brodie Grundy bared his soul on socials.
When Pendlebury logs on to LeBron James’ page he is simply one of the NBA king’s 84 million fans.
“LeBron James, you hear about how he spends so much money on his body being prepared in cryo (cryotherapy) chambers,” Pendlebury said.
“For me you start thinking, ‘What’s a cryo chamber?’ and start figuring out how I’m going to add that into my regime.
“Even the stories of Kobe Bryant and his work ethic. In the off-season how he gets up at 3am and works out from 3-5am – all the untold stories that are now getting told because of these platforms is awesome.”
Pendlebury the 12-year-old had a key to the basketball stadium in Sale so he could train at 6am before returning home to shower before school, so it is little wonder Kobe’s pre-dawn circuit resonated.
“Social media does have a place if used correctly,” Pendlebury said.
“So many guys are doing really well with social media and building their brands.
“I know I can have a real impact on young kids and I know athletes that I look up to have a real impact on me.”
BY THE NUMBERS: OUR BIGGEST SOCIAL MEDIA STARS
How “score” is calculated by Klear:
The ability to drive action. It is not about how many followers you have, nor is it how many engagements you get. The expected number of relevant users that will see and react to your post defines how influential you are.
LATRELL MITCHELL
“I’ve always set out to be somebody … I don’t want to be known as just a rugby league player.”
Mitchell, one of Australia’s most high-profile indigenous athletes, has been the target of racist abuse since he was 8-years old and the rise of social media has only made matters worse. After years of calling out the abuse on Instagram to no avail, the Rabbitohs star had two men charged last month. But social media has not been all negative for Mitchell, who has used his platform to champion Aboriginal and Indigenous issues and culture. The 23-year old also started Winmarra, a clothing label, which celebrates his Aboriginality and connection to country.
Score: 87
Followers: 213,500
Post interactions: 14,100 likes per Instagram post
Biggest Platform: Instagram
Average Age: 33
Gender: Men, 71%
Country: Australia
KALYN PONGA
From photography to beers and choreographed dance moves on Tik Tok, Newcastle’s Kalyn Ponga is one sport’s most creative content creators and enterprising athletes. Not only does Ponga have a podcast with teammate Connor Watson, the Knights superstar is also trying his hand at a film photography project. Ponga also launched Goo-C, an alcoholic beverage company which makes beer, vodka and gin, late last year.
SHAUN JOHNSON
The Cronulla star and wife, Silver Fern Kayla, have almost 400,000 Instagram followers. The photogenic sporting social media power couple use the platform to bring fans and followers into their world as sports stars, where they don’t shy away from both the highs and lows of being an athlete, and their lives as first time parents.
Score: 89
Followers: 456,000
Post interactions: 11,100 likes per Instagram post
Biggest Platform: Instagram
Average Age: 29 yrs
Gender: Women, 56%
Country: New Zealand
JOSH ADDO CARR
“No one cares about your multi” read a sign hoisted above Addo-Carr’s head in what is the Storm speedster’s most engaged with post on Instagram. The saying came to life after a number of NRL players were abused on social media by punters for “ruining” their multi bets.
“Let’s trot”. Is another catch-cry popularised by the Storm speedster on social media. With an unmistakeable smile and infectious laugh, Josh Addo-Carr’s social media feed is a mix of him paying homage to his indigenous culture, flashy clothes and proudly showing his toned physique.
Score: 80
Followers: 118,900
Post interactions: 1,700 likes per Instagram post
Biggest Platform: Instagram
Average Age: 29 yrs
Gender: Men, 52%
Country: Australia
JESS SERGIS
From being crowned the women’s Dally M Player of the Year to the endless hours inside the gym and on the training paddock, the rugby league star takes followers along for the ride on her journey to NRLW stardom. In 2019, Sergis used her reach and profile to help support the bushfire appeal efforts by rallying not only for followers but sponsors to pitch in and make a difference.
Score: 81
Followers: 48,000
Post interactions: 5,300 likes per Instagram post
Biggest Platform: Instagram
Average Age: 31
Gender: Women, 51%
Country: Australia
ANDREW BOGUT
Unlike most modern day Aussie athletes, the former Golden State Warrior turned anti-woke warrior is not afraid to use social media to share his opinions on a wide range of topics from sport to politics and everything in between. Long before using his platforms to promote his podcast Rogue Boges, the NBA star was riling up Twitter users and having regular battles with fellow Olympian Opals and WNBA star Liz Cambage. The pair are currently in a running battle after Cambage complained the AOC “whitewashed” a recent Olympic photo shoot and threatened to boycott the games.
Score: 94
Followers: 814,200
Post interactions: 30,000 Twitter retweets
Biggest Platform: Facebook
Average Age: 29
Gender: Men, 80%
Country: United States
TIM CAHILL
Cahill’s exploits for the Socceroos and most notably Premier League side Everton have helped Australia’s greatest ever footballer to build a lucrative and diverse career post retirement. Cahill’s social media presence and international appeal have led to lucrative ambassadorial roles in the middle east and back home in Australia, and led to the star becoming a best-selling author thanks to his book series ‘Tiny Timmy’.
Score: 97
Followers: 1,856,137
Post interactions: 5,600 like per Instagram post
Biggest Platform: Twitter
Average Age: 35-49 yrs
Gender: Men, 71%
Country: United Kingdom
STEPHANIE GILMORE
Stephanie Gilmore’s seven women’s surfing world championships make her one of Australia’s most marketable athletes. Gilmore uses her impressive social media reach to help promote some of the globe’s most recognised brands like Corona and Audi. Gilmore not only shares her globetrotting journey chasing waves but uses her feed to advocate for ocean health and the environment.
Score: 83
Followers: 1,300,000
Post interactions: 17,700 likes per Instagram post
Biggest Platform: Instagram
Average Age: 32 yrs
Gender: Women, 52%
Country: United States
BEN SIMMONS
One of Australia’s greatest ever sporting exports, Simmons’ aesthetically curated Instagram feed features flashy clothes and even flashier cars. But beyond the bling, the NBA superstar, who became Australia’s richest ever athlete after signing a $170 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, is also a vocal advocate for social justice and a supporter of the Black Lives Matter.
ROB WHITTAKER
The first Australian to ever win a UFC title, Whittaker has amassed a sizeable social media following. Outside of the brutality that is cage fighting, Whittaker’s social media is a celebration of his young family and an insight into the softer side of one of Australia’s genuine sporting warriors.
Score: 90
Followers: 1,600,000
Post interactions: 27,500 likes per Instagram post
Biggest Platform: Instagram
Average Age: 29 yrs
Gender: Men
Country: United States
TAYLA HARRIS
The postergirl for AFLW is marketing gold for the competition with her value online probably surpassing her value on the field last season.
Score: 86
@tayla_harris
Followers: 234,300
Female followers: 57 per cent
Countries: Australia 72 per cent, USA 11 per cent
Just another classic footy hand balling photo 🤷ðŸ¼â€â™€ï¸ @aflwomens first game tomorrow night! @carltonfc_w v @CollingwoodAFLW 👊🼠get tickets online 🎟 pic.twitter.com/KhW584cjBZ
— Tayla Harris (@tayla_harris7) January 27, 2021
SCOTT PENDLEBURY
“Pendles” the fan simply loves consuming content from NBA superstars and it’s even delivered some valuable insights into how some of the richest athletes in the world use their cash for a competitive advantage.
Score: 83
@SP_10
Followers: 157,700
Female followers: 60 per cent
Countries: Australia 82 per cent, USA 9 per cent
PATTY MILLS
Another big figure across the USA and Australia who has learned from the NBA’s monster presence online.
Score: 94
@patty_mills
Followers: 922,000
Male followers: 57 per cent
Countries: USA 56 per cent, Australia 34 per cent
PATRICK DANGERFIELD
Tweet Danger and you often get a reply. He is engaged, alert and about as savvy as they come. Powerful opinions on the game often drive the news cycle, too.
Score: 87
@dangerfield35
Followers: 332,500
Female followers: 64 per cent
Countries: Australia 86 per cent, USA 6 per cent
Nailed it @NMFCOfficial Nobes a star!
— Patrick Dangerfield (@dangerfield35) November 20, 2020
NIC NAITANUI
“All love from my end but saying all lives matter is like going to a cancer fundraiser and saying there are other diseases. Yes every life matters and is of equal importance/significance but right now we are highlighting black lives. That’s just my opinion as a black man.” That was Nic Nat’s eloquent summation of last year’s movement and he often adds sharp humour to his highly-intelligent insights.
Score: 86
@nicnat
Followers: 231,000
Female followers: 58 per cent
Countries: Australia 81 per cent, USA 10 per cent
NICK KYRIGOS
King Nick used Twitter to turbocharge his public makeover when so many in the tennis world showed that their selfishness isn’t confined to the court.
Score: 97
@nickkyrgios
Followers: 2.7 million
Male followers: 68 per cent
Countries: USA 26 per cent, Australia 20 per cent
Djokovic is a tool. I don’t mind Bernie but his Mrs obviously has no perspective, ridiculous scenes 🤦ðŸ½â€â™‚ï¸ https://t.co/MMgeriH2GJ
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 18, 2021
LIZ CAMBAGE
Cambage’s vibrant personality shines through unfiltered and she isn’t afraid to spark controversy or spar with the likes of Andrew Bogut online to stand up for what she believes in.
Score: 90
@ecambage
Followers: 714,900
Male followers: 51 per cent
Countries: USA 43 per cent, Australia 34 per cent
DAVID WARNER
Warner’s birth certificate says he was born in 1986, but his Tik Tok game is more of a 2006 millennial … and Australia’s cricketers dwarf other athletes on socials because of the cut through in India’s billion-person, cricket-obsessed country.
Score: 100
@davidwarner31
Followers: 20.1 million
Male followers: 78 per cent
Countries: India 33 per cent, Australia 27 per cent
CAROLINE BUCHANAN
Raw and real for the Instagram-a-holic BMX rider, who has witnessed endorsements shift from the track to the digital landscape in her inspirational career.
Score: 87
@cbuchaban68
Followers: 346,100
Reach: 79,400
Male followers: 67 per cent
Countries: USA 34 per cent, Australia 18 per cent
BAILEY SMITH
T-shirts are optional for this sexy, young, mulleted hunk, who has assembled a small army of mostly-female followers before game No. 50.
Score: 91
@bazlenka Instagram
Followers: 214,200
Reach: 274,500
Female followers: 77 per cent
Countries: Australia 72 per cent, Spain 5 per cent
Originally published as Social media and sport: Deep dive into how our biggest athletes use social media
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