Euros Generate 950m Posts on Facebook
- Thursday, July 14th, 2016
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In the wake of the Euro 2016 Championship, Facebook and Instagram have released stats on how consumers engaged with the tournament on social media, revealing that this years Euros were one of the most talked about sporting events on social media ever.
195m people, over 10 per cent of Facebooks monthly active users, generated 950 posts, comments or likes to Euro-related content during the tournament, while on Instagram, 61m people shared 476m likes, comments or posts concerning the football championship.
“Facebook is the worlds largest community of football fans, with hundreds of millions of people connected to a football player, club or league page,” said Dan Reed, head of sports partnerships at Facebook. “Its where people talk about football – especially in real-time during live events – whether theyre at the stadium, watching on TV or in line at the supermarket.” 
Cristiano Ronaldo was the most discussed player on Facebook during the final game, dominating with 53 per cent of all player mentions. The moment he lifted the trophy also resulted in the moment with the highest engagement during the final, topping Éders goal in extra time that took Portugal to victory.
Ronaldo also had the most liked photo on Instagram, with 2m likes. Wales Gareth Bale came in second on the photo-sharing platform, with 887,000 likes for his picture of the teams return parade.
“Football is the most popular sport on Instagram and, during this years Euros, 61m football fans came to the platform to connect with their favourite players and teams, and express their love for the game,” said Brandon Gayle, head of global sports partnerships at Instagram.
“Instagram is where people come to connect around their interests and, with a third of our half a billion-large community following a sports account, its never been easier for sports brands and sponsors to reach a highly engaged, young, and passionate global community of sports fans.”
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