EURO 2020 and Copa America started on June 11, which means we’re a little over 10 days into both competitions. In Europe, the Group Stage is winding down, while down in South America the two 5-team groups are slowly making their way through the round robin. As each tournament continues to unfold, we figured we’d do a quick check-in on the EURO and Copa America social media performance.
For soccer fans, both tournaments are extremely accessible. ESPN and Univision / TUDN have EURO 2020 games in the morning and early afternoon, while FOX Sports and Univision / TUDN have Copa America rights and games that kickoff in the early evening. The similarities stop there, as you can see in the below graphic highlighting English-language social media chatter on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in the U.S.
Chatter on social media around EURO 2020 has been significantly higher than Copa America and that isn’t surprising. While Copa America games are on roughly during prime time TV-viewing windows, team and player familiarity continues to reign supreme. Copa America may have Lionel Messi, but the vast majority of players in the competition are lesser-known to the wider U.S. soccer audience – especially when you consider the level of access fans have to European leagues. Name recognition matters to casual fans, which makes it tough for Copa America to reach beyond its core fans.
One important thing to note when it comes to these numbers is the major outlier in social conversation. While we still expect EURO chatter to be higher, the Christian Eriksen health scare is certainly a major contributor to the numbers. This is also evident in looking at the most-mentioned country in partnership with the hashtag, Denmark. The second most-mentioned country when the #EURO2020 hashtag is used? One of the tournament favorites, Belgium.
Among U.S. fans, one of the most-discussed topics thus far in Copa America is England-born Chilean international, Ben Brereton, who debuted as a substitute against Argentina before starting and scoring against Bolivia. Brereton was born in Stoke-on-Trent and plays for Blackburn Rovers in the English Championship. After representing England in youth tournaments, including the Under-19 European Championships in 2017, he made the switch to Chile – for whom he’s eligible thanks to his Chilean mom.
As each tournament continues it will be fun to check back in and see what moment drive social conversations. Will Messi and Argentina make a run in the knockout round and challenge Brazil for the title? Will European giants like France, Belgium, and Germany continue their run of form?
Stay tuned for our recap of each tournament!
What a time to score your first-ever goal for Chile 👏👏
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 18, 2021
Ben Brereton puts 🇨🇱 on top in the first half
(sponsored by @BMWUSA) pic.twitter.com/Cq77I36Qrv
Categories: Social Media