• Loading stock data...
Thursday, September 18, 2025

XFL’s Social Media Stokes Fan Demand For More Football

  • The XFL is employing a two-pronged approach to promote its players and rules.
  • One week after the Super Bowl isn’t too soon, McKinsey study finds.
xfl-social-media
Photo Credit: XFL Live Stream

Launching less than a week after the Super Bowl, the XFL is looking to harness the fan excitement for more football on social media.

During the NFL playoffs in January, the XFL added nearly 600,000 followers to its social media channels. In the 48 hours following Super Bowl LIV, it pulled in an additional 200,000 to 300,000 followers. XFL has more than 226,500 and 224,500 followers on Twitter and Instagram, respectively. 

“In just a couple short days, we’re kicking off and we’re going to be playing football on days and times when people are used to watching football – and we have a great platform to do it,” Fred Harner, senior vice president of content and media, said. 

As the XFL has built towards its season opener on February 8, Harner and his team have used a two-pronged approach to its digital and social strategy. 

The first step has been to educate football fans on what the league is and what makes it different. 

This includes social media coverage around announcements like the XFL’s logo and team name reveals in August and uniform unveilings in December. Weeks before the league’s first game, it also released a series of vignettes detailing its rules, which Harner claims has seen success across all of its platforms, especially YouTube.

“I saw it as a great opportunity to inform and educate and entertain an audience that’s hungry for more football,” Harner said. “It was really a blank slate, and I think as somebody that’s been in content for a long time, to be able to create rather than jump into something that’s been established for years was just really exciting to me.”

Despite the XFL never having taken an official snap, the league is seeing growth across a variety of social media channels. 

Already, the league boasts an average engagement rate of nearly 9%, with Instagram alone reaching 14%. According to influencer marketing platform Scrunch, an average engagement rate between 1% and 3.5% on Instagram is considered “good.”

TikTok is also generating social media interest for the league. Since launching its account on Dec. 13, the league has accumulated more than 58,600 followers and nearly 730,000 likes on the ByteDance-owned app. 

READ MORE: ABC/ESPN To Show XFL Betting Lines On-screen

The league’s following is growing by roughly 1,000 followers per day, Harner said, and is 34% female heading into the Feb. 8 season opener – significantly higher than its other social media platforms.

“We’re starting to reach a new fan base and I think we’ll have new opportunities to create content appropriate for it,” Harner said. “It’s still really early days for us on TikTok, but we’ve been pleased so far.”

The second piece of the XFL’s social strategy focuses on the league’s most important element: the on-the-field product. Fielding big-time former college football names like Cardale Jones, Aaron Murray and ex-Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops gives the XFL a chance to reintroduce them to fans. 

“Football fans don’t stop being football fans when the Super Bowl is over, and the XFL will fill the void for elite-level highlights, competition, and regional rivalries,” Mason Bates, account director for sponsorships and content at Mindshare, said.

“The league and teams have harnessed that momentum into creative pieces, smartly placing some of their most famous athletes and coaches, who are well-known college football stars, at the center of a lot of their digital and social communications,” Bates added.

There’s also apparent interest from football fans to keep the sport alive post-Super Bowl. While some question the XFL’s decision to debut six days following Super Bowl LIV, a recent study commissioned with Mckinsey & Company showed that roughly 38 million people want to keep watching football after the NFL season ends.

READ MORE: Sportsbooks Lukewarm on Early XFL Betting Potential

“The NFL news cycle is at its slowest point in the weeks after the Super Bowl, and football fans want more than the off-field speculation that leads into the NFL Draft,” Bates said. “The XFL is smartly harnessing fan excitement for more football, which should truly help them capture attention.”

While there’s still uncertainty around the gridiron product, Harner said he thinks that the XFL’s high engagement numbers on social media show that fans are eager – and ready – for more football.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Feb 15, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaks in a press conference during All Star Saturday Night ahead of the 2025 NBA All Star Game at Chase Center.

Silver Says Free Highlights Are an Issue As NBA Begins $77B Deal

Silver called basketball a “highlight-based sport.”
People congregate at Turning Point Headquarters in Phoenix after news that the founder, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed at a rally in Utah on Sept. 10, 2025.

Panthers Staffer, Suns Reporter Fired for Charlie Kirk Posts

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot in Utah on Wednesday.

College Football Field-Storming: Georgia Tech Fined $50K

The ACC announced a new fine system in July, joining the SEC.

Featured Today

Premier Lacrosse League

‘The Circus Is Coming to Town’: Why Upstart Leagues Start on Tour

In their ambitious plans, a traveling schedule is only temporary.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 19: A detailed view of the MLB Debut patch on the jersey of Patrick Monteverde #44 of the Miami Marlins prior to game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on April 19, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
September 13, 2025

The Tiny Jersey Patch at the Center of the MLB Rookie Card..

Autographed cards containing a piece of baseball history have upended the market.
September 11, 2025

Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl Rematch Could Set More NFL Ratings Records

Fox will nationally televise Sunday afternoon’s matchup.
September 10, 2025

ESPN’s ‘MNF’ Ratings Up 8% As NFL Surges to Strong Start

ESPN posts its second-best Week 1 “Monday Night Football” audience.

Fever Ratings Fall Without Clark, but Rest of WNBA Game 1s Surge

The Indiana Fever game drew 47% fewer viewers this year.
exclusive
September 16, 2025

ESPN, Fox One Added 1M Sign-Ups in First 10 Days After Launch

The two high-profile streaming services have strong starts with consumers.
Sep 14, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) makes a reception defended by Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie (22) during the fourth quarter of the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
September 16, 2025

Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl Rematch Sets Early NFL TV Ratings Mark

Several new milestones are established with the big early-season matchup.
Sponsored

How World Series Champ Dexter Fowler Became a Premier League Team Owner

Dexter Fowler discusses navigating retirement and embracing new roles as an owner & investor.
Greg Olsen
September 16, 2025

Greg Olsen on Tom Brady’s Raiders Role: ‘More Power to Him’

This season, the NFL has relaxed the special Brady broadcasting rules.
Jul 27, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Injured Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) looks on from the bench during the first half of a basketball game against the Chicago Sky at United Center.
September 15, 2025

WNBA Ratings Rise 3% in 2025 Despite Clark’s Absence

Caitlin Clark played in just 13 of 44 regular-season games.
Green Bay Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon (25) breaks up a pass intended for Washington Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown (85) on Thursday, September 11, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won the game, 27-18.
September 15, 2025

Amazon Shatters Previous Ratings High for 1st NFL Game

“TNF” viewership surges 35% compared to the 2024 season average.
Las Vegas Aces
September 15, 2025

WNBA Playoffs Face ESPN Fall Crunch For Final Time

The games will be spread across three networks next year.