We have the news this week that Facebook has surpassed 500million users. Is there no end limits to where this online phenomenon can go? Brands and businesses of all walks of life embrace Facebook and sporting brands are no exception. Some of the largest brands on Facebook are sporting related and it is undoubtedly a superb way to communicate with fans and build a community online. Lets be honest, top sporting brands are an easy sell as there is a devoted fan base already assembled. It will be interesting to see what some of these brands do with FAcebook in the long run and if they aim to monetize these huge fan bases. Here’s a look at some of the largest sporting brands on Facebook…

The NBA

The NBA’s Facebook page currently has 3,441,966 fans and is growing at an exponential rate (+ 30,437 since 20/7/10 at time of writing). The interaction and engagement on the site is phenomenal with each post regularly getting over 1,500 ‘likes’ along with hundreds of comment. There has also been 27,774,795 video plays on the page. The NBA are perhaps the most successful sporting brand in social media with an overall 38 million followers on Facebook and Twitter across the various official NBA pages. They are currently the sporting kings of social media.

Adidas Originals

This page is an innovative approach to integration on Facebook. The main difference being you can see Facebook comments and reviews from fellow adidas Originals fans about a particular product. Thus, while you are looking at the new sneakers, not only can you look at pictures of the shoes, zoom in on the product but you can also read reviews from Adidas Originals Facebook fans or users who have an opinion on that product. The page has 3,486,492 ‘likes’ at time of post. The Adidas originals page reflects the whole mantra of their campaign: originality.

Puma

Another revitalized brand of recent times, Puma, have combined digital channels to great effect in growing their brand online. Closing in on 2 million ‘likes’, they have had a 30% increase in fans since December. They also release videos on their YouTube tab such as the trailer for ‘Chasing Bolt’, the latest Puma Usain Bolt advert.

Manchester United

This official page was set up on the 12th of July and already boasts over a million fans. Very few sporting brands command the type of global devotion that Manchester United do and their arrival on Facebook was always going to herald massive attention. This number will continue to grow and grow. The type of content on their site so far is not ground breaking mainly interviews and low scale competitions. However watch this space as this will soon change.

The NFL

It is actually quite surprising that the NFL doesn’t have more fans and interaction on Facebook given the size of the brand. Over 500,000 fans are not to be shunned at but it is not a massive amount in relative terms. It is surprising for instance that the NHL has more fans than it’s more popular counterpart. Expect this number to rise though as the new season approaches in September and the advent of apps such as the season showdown come into full swing.

New York Yankees

The Yankees have been one of the coolest sporting brands for a long time and their Facebook page is a reflection of this to an extent. Not packed full of innovation, this page delivers regular, relevant content on the Yankees with links to the biggest news and stories. The page has immersed 1,729,026 fans and has high levels of interaction.

NHL

As alluded to earlier in the post, the NHL would not be as dominant a brand worldwide as the NFL. However, their Facebook page has more fans (over 630,000) and has higher levels of engagement. They have incorporated virtual hockey gifts into the site as well as latest videos, providing rich content.

Real Madrid

One of the biggest sporting brands on the planet, Madrid’s Facebook page has more than two and a half million fans. The fact that their wall hasn’t been updated since the 11th of July shows the power of this brand. In English and Spanish, the page has some clever options to build your own team but not a huge amount of innovation or integration is present at the moment.

Nike Football

The Nike brand speaks for itself but their online activity exploded around the World Cup. Their Write the Future campaign accounted for 34% of pre World Cup buzz online. This is an incredible statistic considering they weren’t even an official sponsor. Their Facebook page obviously ties in with the Write the Future campaign, offering chances to young footballers to get discovered.

FC Barcelona

The largest football brand on Facebook is Barcelona football club. The page has over 3 million fans and their success on the pitch is reflected online. There is a fairly common theme emerging here. Many of the top footballing brands don’t need to be hugely innovative on their Facebook page to gain fans and interaction as the fan base is already there and more than willing to show their colours online.

Is Facebook Sports Interaction The Future?

Ultimately, it is much easier for big sporting brands to build communities on Facebook and they already have a massive fan base all over the world. Their is a natural desire to interact with your team on Facebook as sport is a passionate topic, as we have discussed before. Gaining these massive online communities presents all sorts of opportunities to these brands and practically every brand on this list is selling some product through their Facebook page whether it be tickets or merchandise. It will be interesting to watch how this sector progresses and grows over the next year.

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