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Cowboys continue to be one of NFL’s most popular teams on social media

If you’re ever curious about what Rowdy is having for brunch, you can follow the Dallas Cowboys on Instagram which is a popular decision among football fans.

DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys collecting an NFC East title may not have come with a playoff win, but the club did pick up more followers on Instagram.

According to data compiled by Betway, which tracked follower growth on Instagram over the last 12 months, the Cowboys grew their follower totals by 13.38%, representing the 10th-largest growth in the study.

With 4 million followers on Instagram, the Cowboys are the second-most followed team in the NFL. Only the New England Patriots with 4.6 million followers have more.

Given that the study was derived over the course of 12 months, it makes sense why the Cowboys would have the 10th-ranked growth. By this same time in 2021, when the study was conducted, quarterback Dak Prescott was coming off a broken leg that ended his season five games in. The team was also on "Hard Knocks" for training camp, which meant many of the inside views of the team were going to be on HBO each week throughout training camp.

Dallas' regular season success turned inconsistent following Prescott's return from a calf injury in Week 8. Although the Cowboys were still 6-2 and in command of the division, there were doubts about the team's status as the cream of the conference. Meanwhile, rookie linebacker Micah Parsons provided exciting defensive highlights, and the club led the NFL with 34 takeaways.

However, the wild-card playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers commenced an inauspicious offseason wherein Cowboys fans turned away from the team rather than hear reasons for why they couldn't sign free agents or had to trade Amari Cooper. Losing a fan favorite such as Randy Gregory to the Denver Broncos over a contract language disagreement also didn't help to generate interest.

Contrast that with the Cincinnati Bengals, who saw a 94.68% Instagram follower growth in the same span, the largest in the study. With quarterback Joe Burrow returning from an ACL injury and leading the Bengals to a division title, Cincinnati back-doored it all the way to SoFi Stadium for Super Bowl LVI, even knocking off the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC title game in the process. 

Even though the Bengals fell short in the Big Game with the Los Angeles Rams prevailing 23-20, they brought enthusiasm back to their fan base, as evidenced by the uptick in Instagram followers.

Aside from Dallas, the champion Rams were second in growth with 51.80%. Tampa Bay Buccaneers saw the third-most growth at 23.49% after winning the prior Super Bowl. The Buffalo Bills had the fourth-most at 21.51%. The Los Angeles Chargers were the fifth overall at 20.58%. The Tennessee Titans were sixth at 19.23%. The Arizona Cardinals were seventh with 16.21%. 

Washington saw a 14.82% growth, eighth-most in the study, possibly due to either winning the NFC East in 2020 or the curiosity from their name change. The Pittsburgh Steelers had a 14.36% growth, the ninth-highest.

Do you follow the Cowboys on social media? Share your experiences with Mark on Twitter @therealmarklane.

    

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