You’d think that a code-jumping NZ enforcer who crushed the Wallabies at the 2012 Bledisloe Cup and literally pissed on our country once would be despised by Aussie sports fans everywhere but Sonny Bill Williams is the most popular sportsman in the country when it comes to social media presence, a report has found.
A new study by Sydney social media marketing company One Meaning Communicated Differently has found that the explosive Sydney Roosters forward capable of both assault with a deadly weapon and considered film and television reviews has the biggest social media following of any active professional athlete in the country.
So great are Williams’ Australian social media numbers – 200,000+ Facebook fans, 114,000+ Twitter followers and 85,000+ Instagram followers – that his combined social media reach is higher than that of the A-League (soccer), NBL (basketball) and T20 Big Bash League (cricket) put together.
“The whole idea of it was to look at the complete digital, mobile and social footprint of all the sporting codes and clubs in Australia,” said One Meaning Communicated Differently Founder Jai Al-Attas. “We were looking at their web presence, tech and mobile presence, e-commerce, so the way they sell stuff on their site whether that’s merchandise of memberships, and obviously social media.”
Al-Attas also said that Williams’ popularity was to be expected considering the scope of his potential fan base. “Obviously he’s so popular because he’s played in different codes, played internationally and he’s a big personality,” he said.
Case in point? An unofficial Facebook fan page created by a French rugby union fan has over 343,000 likes and has been active since Williams debuted for French rugby union club Toulon five years ago.
You can follow him here, here and here. Not that he needs it. The NBL on the other hand…
Main image by Cameron Spencer for Getty Images Sport
