Audit of NHL’s Social Media Presence
By: Brice Putnam
The purpose of this audit is to research the National Hockey League’s social media platforms to determine what content gains the most attention, as well as ways they could improve their outreach on their various platforms. I started by gathering statistics and information on the six largest social media platforms that the NHL frequents. This includes X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. The information that I found was then inputted into the spreadsheet included in this article.
When deciding what resonates best with people on the NHL’s social media, it really depends on the platform you are looking at. I looked at recent posts from each of the six NHL accounts and found some interesting trends on each platform. To start, X (7.2 million followers) and Instagram (6.7M) serve as the league's largest social media presences. These two platforms also garner the most likes, views, and comments shared. They both rely on similar content such as highlight videos, stat graphics, or basic photos with intriguing captions. However, videos posted on Instagram that are not Reels tend to be posted behind a graphic describing the following video. This doesn’t seem like it lessens the effect of the post; in fact, it actually may be beneficial in terms of getting someone's attention quickly. But it is a noticeable difference that the other platforms do not have. The NHL’s Facebook tends to stick to the same content as X and Instagram; however, it uses less video and focuses more on plain photos or graphics depicting quotes or stats. To me, this is targeting more of the older audience that Facebook traditionally brings in. TikTok and YouTube serve as the largest video sources for the NHL on social media, which is interesting because the difference in content is very drastic. Their TikTok utilizes lots of Q/A format type videos or videos featuring players sharing stories. These seem to do very well when compared across the board of the NHL’s social media. YouTube is where full game highlights are posted, as well as other collections of best plays or moments. However, this platform seems to be the most lacking of their social media presences. This is due to low views and not much variety of content. To round out the league's platforms, the NHL’s LinkedIn does a good job of promoting on the business side of things. They post quite frequently, sharing things such as partnerships, job opportunities, history, and community efforts. However, they are behind the other big professional leagues in terms of followers and engagement. This is a common trend across all of their accounts.
Being the most influential platforms for the league, I took an even deeper dive into the NHL’s Instagram and X accounts. I looked at 25 recent posts on each platform and compared the results. So that the like and view numbers were as accurate as possible, I started my research with posts from the previous week. I also only included NHL posts that were posted only by them and not in unison with any other account. Here’s what I found:
Instagram Averages:
Likes Per Post: 20.8K
Comments Per Post: 111.3
Shares Per Post: 926.0
X Averages:
Likes Per Post: 1.6K
Comments Per Post: 39.9
Views Per Post: 161K
(25 posts each on Instagram and X. Posts selected from February 2 through 4, 2025.)
Observation of Social Media Care
Now, let's shift the topic towards fan engagement and social care. The NHL receives many comments across their social media, asking questions or giving feedback. However, after looking at 25 recent posts on each account, I was unable to find any interaction between users and the NHL. I found no liked comments or replies to any media. I found this to be quite negative because a good number of these fans seeking a reply were asking legitimate questions, giving praise, or giving positive feedback on what types of content they would like to see. To find out if this was out of the ordinary when compared to its competitors, I decided to check out the NFL, MLB, and NBA’s social media accounts. I was surprised to see the same phenomenon going on. I guess it makes sense for leagues to just stay neutral, but a lot of the fan engagement opportunities these leagues are receiving would not be jeopardizing neutrality. Social care in regard to answering questions or engaging with users on social media is a tactic that lots of businesses do. It creates a more personable feel to the brand for users. While it's good that the NHL isn't an outlier in their field for not engaging in this activity, I feel like it could be a good way for the league to increase its social interaction online.
Observation and Analysis of Social Media Comments
For the next section of this audit, I was instructed to ask AI about potential ways for the NHL to improve content across their social media platforms. I chose to use Google’s Gemini for this, due to its ability to gather real opinions across specific social media accounts.
The prompt I input was as follows:
"You are advising a social media strategist for the NHL. The goal is to uncover consumer-generated content ideas for social media. Take a look at the NHL's accounts on 6 large social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, and LinkedIn). What ideas do you have for new content based on consumer opinions?"
Gemini gathered details and gave feedback about each specific platform, along with some general consumer opinions that are applicable across the board. To start, Gemini described fans' feedback about including more ways to participate in the NHL experience. There seems to be a lack of ways for fans to participate in the league's activities across social media. Gemini suggests combating this by increasing fan participation by hosting more contests, challenges, and interactive polls on their social media accounts. To further this statement, I took a look at the past week of posts across the six researched NHL platforms to see if there are any fan participation campaigns being run. I found several stories on Instagram with polls relating to the league's new 4 Nation Face Off tournament; however, that was the only fan participation campaign that I was able to find.
With the NHL dropping their All-Star Weekend this year in exchange for the new best-on-best tournament called the 4 Nations Face Off, I wondered how fans were feeling about missing the yearly experience that caters to hockey fans. I asked Gemini about this and received a response that described several fans being disappointed that the event was not taking place this year. They described missing the event because of the opportunity it gave fans to get close to all the stars. Others described missing the All-Star fan vote that occurs leading up to the event. All of these complaints are valid things for the NHL to consider in terms of improving their social media presence. As an NHL fan myself, I am also missing All-Star Weekend and all the promotions that come with it. The fan vote and skills competition are some of the most fun parts of the NHL. They allow for fan participation and lots of promotion on social media that gets people interested. And while the 4 Nations Face Off is a great thing for the sport, there are certainly ways the NHL could improve their fan interaction alongside the event. Gemini suggests making both the 4 Nations Face Off and All-Star Weekend a yearly thing, in which the NHL would present both events each season. This would allow the dedicated fans of All-Star Weekend to regain that same excitement while also building the global hockey stage through the 4 Nations Faceoff. Gemini also describes how hosting both events could increase the social media presence for the NHL.
Closing Analysis and Learnings
Overall, I believe the NHL does a good job in terms of posting the right content on the right platform. This allows them to gain the attention of their target audience on each individual platform. However, I think there are certainly ways of improving the NHL’s social media presence. To start, when compared to other pro leagues, the NHL follows the pattern of not engaging with fans in comment sections. There's obviously reasoning behind doing so, but the NHL could change the game by responding to positive comments once in a while. Engaging in social care could provide more fan engagement, which is something that was noticeably lacking after doing this audit. Also, on some of the NHL’s accounts, the content is repetitive. And while the quality of content across the board is very good, the NHL should focus on finding new methods of storytelling that differ from their current model. This is something that other leagues do very well in, specifically the NBA, who is known to dominate social media. Growing the game through social media is very important for the NHL and hockey as a whole. The sport struggles when compared to the other three big sports in the United States, but the NHL can change that narrative and help grow the game through social media. I believe the findings in this audit give a basis on how to improve their presence online while also giving them their flowers for the things they do well.