The NFL Scores a Touchdown on Social Media, While the NHL Scores a Hat Trick With Offline Conversations

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - Nov 16, 2015) - Technology and data company Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL), creator of eValue Analytics™, today released its 'Total Social' data rankings of the major professional sports leagues on social media and through offline word of mouth (WOM) conversations.

'Total Social' combines Engagement Labs' proprietary eValue social media measurement tool and TalkTrack®, the leading measurement source of WOM conversation from the Keller Fay Group, an Engagement Labs company.

"Major professional sports leagues have some of the most loyal fans around. With the far-reaching appeal of sports content and the passion from fans, sports leagues have a major opportunity to utilize social media to keep fans engaged both online and offline even when there isn't a game to watch," stated Bryan Segal, CEO of Engagement Labs.

Source: Engagement Labs eValue™ U.S. 2015 rankings of major professional sports leagues on social media

Source: Talk Track ® U.S. 2015 rankings of major professional sports leagues word of mouth conversation offline

"When looking at the eValue scores of the different leagues, we see that across the board, each league possesses significantly high Impact scores across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram," noted Segal. "Though the content being posted by these organizations have impressive reach to mass audiences, where we see room for improvement online is in the creation of response strategies."

The NFL took the lead online across all three channels with impressive eValue scores. Through a combination of game highlights, player interviews and promotional material for upcoming games, the league generated extensive interest amongst fans online. However, low scores for Responsiveness showcased that that there is an opportunity to create a two-way interaction with fans.

When looking at offline conversations, the NFL placed second for WOM momentum -- meaning mentions of the league have increased year-over-year. However, the brand scored the lowest with respect to WOM sentiment. This 'Total Social' measurement demonstrates that although the brand is being engaged with online and talked about more frequently offline, conversations about the NFL are less positive. By creating an online strategy that focuses on highlighting positive content around the sport and league, the NFL could strengthen its brand.

On Facebook, the NHL scored 93.3 out of 100 for overall eValue by leveraging similar content as the NFL to engage their audiences. When observing offline WOM rankings, the NHL dominated the conversation. Not only does the NHL rank the highest for WOM sentiment, but they also had the highest growth in offline conversations.

When it comes to the MLB, the league scored higher in Engagement and Impact than the NHL on all three channels, which can be attributed to the fact that the league was at the height of its playoffs during the time period measured. However, the league's low Responsiveness scores decreased their eValue scores on each channel, ranking them below the NHL on Facebook and Twitter.

"While the NFL is sweeping the board, the NBA is falling behind their peers. The league's low Responsiveness and Engagement, attributed to them coming in last in the rankings," continued Segal. "While the NBA season did start later than the NFL and NHL seasons, the weeks leading up to the season was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of downtime to generate buzz and begin interacting with fans."

Scoring extremely high for Impact across all three channels, the NBA's content evidently had a widespread reach, indicating abundant opportunity for fan interaction. Therefore, the league should start focusing on their loyal fan base to improve their Engagement and overall eValue scores online. Additionally, based on their second place ranking for offline WOM sentiment, it is clear fans were speaking positively about the league.

About Engagement Labs
Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL) offers intelligent 'Total Social' data, analytics and insights for marketers and organizations enabling them to track, measure and benchmark the conversations happening around their brand or industry both online and offline. These conversations are proven to drive critical business outcomes, including sales, while Engagement Labs' tools provide data and actionable insight to help guide business decisions and power marketing effectiveness.

Engagement Labs' eValue™ Analytics tool is the global benchmark for social media scoring. eValue's proprietary data technology offers real-time analysis to measure a brand's social media and digital marketing efforts, distilling it down to a single meaningful number between 0 and 100 -- an eValue score. Composed of a series of metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), an eValue score measures social media Engagement, Impact and Responsiveness which is benchmarked against 100,000+ handpicked and verified brands. The Keller Fay Group, an Engagement Labs company, is the only firm to regularly measure offline conversation, which independent research finds is a significant driver of sales with twice the impact of online conversation.

Engagement Labs maintains offices in Toronto, London and New Brunswick, NJ. www.engagementlabs.com / www.kellerfay.com

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