SB Nation’s NFL Team Brands—the 32 communities that work alongside SB Nation’s flagship brand—saw a massive and highly engaged audience consume the most comprehensive draft coverage around last weekend.
Looking across our coverage, you find unique angles that impress you even if you’re not a fan:
- Browns fans were ready for Baker Mayfield to plant his flag in Cleveland.
- Buffalo Rumblings had the definitive word on how Bills fans felt about the decision to trade up for Josh Allen because more than 5,000 Bills fans graded the pick instantly.
- The reaction to Shaquem Griffin getting picked was outstanding. Field Gulls had already done the scouting on him months earlier in anticipation of this moment.
- The Falcoholic reminded Georgia Bulldog fans they’re on the same team when it comes to disliking the Patriots.
- Arrowhead Pride documented what happens when you draft the son of the GM who runs the rival team.
- Big Blue View was prepared for the Giants to select this QB in the fourth round because they had interviewed and scouted him weeks before.
- The proud Eagles fans at Bleeding Green Nation kept reminding everyone why they had the 32nd pick in the draft. Again and again and again.
More generally: Our NFL Team Brands combined for 27 million pageviews on draft weekend alone, marking yet another year of growth for SB Nation’s draft coverage. It’s not just the sheer size of the audience or the amazing volume of content, it’s also each unique team brand doing what they do best—engaging with fans.
We saw more than 200,000 comments on draft weekend. There were nearly 500 FanPosts, —a community platform for and by readers and range anywhere from short 100-word posts polling the community to 3,000-word scouting reports from knowledgable fans. Our FanPosts were popular not only because of the massive audience but also because of the engagement from fellow fans. There are few places where you can sign up, write what you’re passionate about and engage with hundreds of fans in a matter of hours.
Simply put, there is no sports community this engaged.
The NFL Team Brand coverage spread to social media where our Twitter accounts combined for 150,000 RTs and likes over the draft’s four days. On Facebook, more than 1,400 posts produced over 200,000 comments, likes and shares.
We embrace the power of our network. The Team Brand communities were treated to smart analysis of their new draft picks from former NFL player and SB Nation flagship writer Stephen White and his popular scouting reports. In addition to analysis from SB Nation Flagship, our NFL Team Brand communities interacted with our NCAA communities to learn all about the new players just drafted.
The NFL Draft experience at SB Nation is unique for the size of the audience but also the depth and engagement with fans.