The revamped USFL kicked off its 2022 lottery draft Tuesday night, and some familiar names were called. Football fans are eager for next season to begin and are quickly picking their favorite teams to follow. In fact, searches for ‘USFL start date’ have increased by a whopping 500% in the past 30 days.
Teams like Tampa Bay Bandits, Birmingham Stallions, and Pittsburgh Maulers have aced their picks to play in Spring 2022, but which are the most popular teams? And which are the most in-demand jerseys?
With the returning USFL franchises, The Game Day has analyzed social media data and Google searches to identify which teams are going to be the most followed following the USFL draft.
Credits: USFL
| Rank | USFL team | Twitter followers gained in the past 30 days | Twitter followers gained in the past day | Growth Percentage on Twitter followers in the past day | Instagram followers gained in the past 30 days | Instagram followers gained in the past day | Growth Percentage on Instagram followers in the last day |
| 1 | Tampa Bay Bandits | 4,430 | 4,294 | 36.38% | 3,930 | 2,550 | 44.95% |
| 2 | Michigan Panthers | 14,167 | 5,360 | 22.78% | 5,730 | 3,829 | 44.53% |
| 3 | New Orleans Breakers | 6,531 | 4,771 | 33.75% | 5,040 | 2,816 | 43.09% |
| 4 | New Jersey Generals | 4,688 | 3,502 | 36.29% | 4,320 | 2,237 | 37.55% |
| 5 | Philadelphia Stars | 5,943 | 4,228 | 28.43% | 3,840 | 1,997 | 36.23% |
| 6 | Houston Gamblers | 5,193 | 4,198 | 30.25% | 3,900 | 2,045 | 35.01% |
| 7 | Pittsburgh Maulers | 5,835 | 4,558 | 26.96% | 4,380 | 2,337 | 33.31% |
| 8 | Birmingham Stallions | 5,091 | 3,810 | 29.17% | 4,110 | 2,025 | 30.70% |
Twitter is leading the board when it comes to overall followers growth, followed by Instagram, also performing great for the league. The ranking gives us a better look at which teams fans gravitate to the most.
The Tampa Bay Bandits ranks the most popular team on social media with an impressive 44.95% increase on Instagram followers and 36.38% on Twitter followers right after the draft on Tuesday night.
The Michigan Panthers takes the second-place spot on our list for the most popular USFL teams on social media with a 44.53% growth in Instagram social media following and 5,360 new Twitter followers in just 24 hours following Tuesday’s draft.
The New Orleans Breakers is the third most popular USFL team based on social media growth. From Tuesday to Wednesday, the team racked up 2,816 new followers on Instagram and 5,040 on Twitter.
The most in-demand USFL jersey🔥 🏈
Credit: USFL
As the USFL revealed the uniforms for each of its eight teams earlier this week, searches for ‘USFL jerseys’ have soared by an impressive 250%. Fans are running to grab their favorite team’s jersey ahead of the season.
Leading the pack for the USFL’s most popular jerseys is the New Orleans Breakers, which saw a whopping 5000% increase in demand for their jerseys just after Tuesday’s draft. The Birmingham Stallions jersey is also a fan’s favorite, with a staggering 3,100% increase in demand following the draft.
Sitting at the bottom is the Michigan Panthers jersey, which ranks as the least popular with a still-impressive 555% increase in demand right after the draft.
The New Orleans Breakers and the Michigan Panthers jerseys were the most commented on and favored by football fans on social media, with some calling the Breakers ‘the best unis in the league.’
Color played a massive role in the social media conversation around the USFL jerseys, with some saying there’s a ‘red overload’ and one fanatic showing his support for the breakers because ‘their unis aren’t RED.’ Some mentioned that the jerseys brought back memories from their childhood. “I loved the USFL when I was a kid. These uniforms bring back memories. Let’s hope the @USFLStars can pick up where they left off,” wrote user @Itsacon on Twitter.
| Rank | USFL team | USFL team Google Search Volume | Increase in USFL team searches in the past week | Increase in searches for USFL team jerseys |
| 1 | New Orleans Breakers | 2,400 | 5000% | 3100% |
| 2 | Birmingham Stallions | 2,900 | 4800% | 3100% |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Maulers | 4,400 | 1320% | 1850% |
| 4 | Houston Gamblers | 3,600 | 1320% | 1375% |
| 5 | Philadelphia Stars | 1,900 | 2400% | 860% |
| 6 | New Jersey Generals | 3,600 | 850% | 700% |
| 7 | Tampa Bay Bandits | 3,600 | 2100% | 680% |
| 8 | Michigan Panthers | 6,600 | 3200% | 555% |
Matt Heiman, CEO, and co-founder of The Game Day comments:
“For the first time in over 30 years, the United States Football League is back, giving football fans a renewed sense of excitement and competition during the NFL’s offseason. We’re only a little over a week into knowing the new franchises, and you can already tell a few fan favorites based on what we are seeing on social media. We should keep in mind that favorites can change depending on how the teams perform in 2022. The 2022 USFL relaunch is creating a lot of excitement amongst football fans, and we can’t wait for the new season to get underway. As the season approaches, we are looking forward to seeing how things shift based on a variety of factors including coaching staffs, new players hopping on board, match-ups, and more.”
