The number of Twitter followers of a sports team can tell us a lot directionally about its popularity among the ‘Under Age 35’ demographic, as Twitter is rarely used by people over 50. It can also tell us the approximate relative popularity among sports at a given school and relative popularity among peer sports programs at other schools around the country, again among younger people – the future of college sports.
Here are some interesting recent Twitter Follower figures among all DU sports, as of October 1, 2016:
| Sport | Followers | % of “DU” Twitter users (who follow at least one DU sports team) |
| DU Men’s Lacrosse | 22,700 followers | 41% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Hockey | 16,000 followers | 29% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Volleyball | 2,900 followers | 5% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Gymnastics | 2,900 followers | 4% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Men’s Basketball | 2,300 followers | 4% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Women’s Lacrosse | 1,900 followers | 3% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Women’s Basketball | 1,500 followers | 3% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Men’s Soccer | 1,300 followers | 3% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Women’s Soccer | 1,000 followers | 2% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Swim/Dive | 877 followers | 2% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Women’s Golf | 827 followers | 2% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Skiing | 827 followers | 2% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Men’s Tennis | 786 followers | 2% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Women’s Tennis | 720 followers | 2% of DU Twitter users |
| DU Men’s Golf | 458 followers | 1% of DU Twitter users |
Here are Twitter Followers at some top 10 men’s lacrosse programs:
| Team – Lacrosse | Followers |
| Syracuse University | 39.8K |
| Duke University | 31.7K |
| University of North Carolina | 30.4K |
| University of Maryland | 29.2K |
| Notre Dame University | 27.7K |
| University of Denver | 22.1K |
| Johns Hopkins University | 19.3K |
| Loyola University | 17.5K |
| Brown University | 10.2K |
Twitter followers among NCHC and some Top D-I hockey schools:
| Team – Hockey | Followers |
| University of Minnesota | 63.4K |
| University of Michigan | 49K |
| University North Dakota | 45K |
| Boston College | 20.9K |
| University of Wisconsin | 20.7K |
| Notre Dame University | 18.4K |
| University of Denver | 16K |
| Miami University (Ohio) | 16K |
| Boston University | 13.7K |
| University of Minnesota-Duluth | 12.4K |
| Providence College | 11K |
| University of Nebraska – Omaha | 9K |
| Western Michigan University | 7.9K |
| Quinnipiac University | 7.7K |
| University of Massachusetts-Lowell | 7.5K |
| St. Cloud State University | 6.9K |
| Yale University | 3.8K |
| Colorado College | 1.3K |
Twitter followers among Summit League and some Top D-I basketball schools:
| Top Tier Basketball Programs | Followers |
| University of North Carolina | 474K |
| Duke University | 119K |
| Gonzaga University | 50.8K |
| Summit Basketball | |
| North Dakota State University | 7.9K |
| South Dakota State University | 5.4K |
| University of Nebraska – Omaha | 3.4K |
| University of Denver | 2.3K |
| Oral Roberts University | 2.1K |
| University of South Dakota | 1.6K |
| Western Illinois University | 1.6K |
| Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) | 957 |
| Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) | 936 |
What does all this data tell us?
Here are some tidbits that emerge from analysis:
- About 70% of Twitter users who follow specific sports teams at DU, follow Men’s Lacrosse and Men’s Ice Hockey, dwarfing all other sports followers at DU – it tells us what young fans care about at DU, sports wise
- Somewhat of a surprise was that two DU women’s sports, Volleyball and Gymnastics, have more followers than DU Men’s Basketball, though the numbers are close
- DU Men’s Lacrosse has 10 times as many Twitter followers as any other sport at DU, except for ice hockey
- DU Lacrosse has more Twitter followers than the storied lacrosse program at Johns Hopkins, and is pretty close to Notre Dame’s lacrosse program, a far larger sports brand
- DU Hockey holds its own nationally, with more Twitter followers than much larger Boston University
- DU Hockey has about 16 times more Twitter followers than rival Colorado College hockey
- DU Hockey has about 1/3 as many Twitter followers as rival North Dakota in hockey
- DU Basketball may be dwarfed by other DU sports in terms of Twitter followers, but it holds its own among Summit League Men’s Basketball teams
- North Carolina Basketball has about 20 times more followers than all of Summit League Basketball programs, combined!
Puck Swami is the internet moniker of a long time DU Sports Fan and Alumnus.