After years of anticipation, Austin FC finally played their first game in Major League Soccer. The league’s third Texas team opened with a defeat against hosts LAFC. However, there’s much to be excited about for Austin fans, including a solid on-field performance and the opening of Q2 Stadium.
While the latter is still weeks away, we wanted to focus on the weekend that was and dive into the social conversation surrounding the debutants and the #AustinFC hashtag. From impressions and mentions to sentiment and growth, we examined hashtag usage on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
It’s important to note Austin also utilizes hashtags like #VERDE and #LISTOS. We chose to look at #AustinFC because it’s the official hashtag for which MLS and Twitter created a hashflag.
Here are a few things that caught our eyes:
- #AustinFC was used nearly 11,000 times with a reach of almost 24 million
- Of the 46% of posts that had discernible sentiment, 44% were positive
- Nearly three-quarters of the hashtag usage came via Instagram
- 72% of the hashtag usage came on game day and the preceding 24 hours
- In recent MLS debut weekends, Miami’s Twitter account growth and mentions (not hashtag usage) bested both Austin and Cincinnati
Categories: Digital Content, Feature, Featured, Major League Soccer, Social Media