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These days, the adage that winning breeds popularity might not apply to only ticket sales and merchandising profits in the sports industry.

With organizations now extending their respective brands to social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, popularity can now be measured in terms of likes, photo comments and total followers.

It's an area that the Arizona Cardinals are apparently struggling with at the moment.

According to an online survey put out by the Wall Street Journal, the Cardinals are currently ranked dead last in Twitter followers among the NFL's 32 teams. At the time of the poll, Arizona had just 44,245 followers -- nearly 25,000 less than the next team on the list (Jacksonville Jaguars).

It seems the Cardinals aren't the only local team in town struggling to attract online popularity, though.

The least-followed teams are typically small-city losers—or are in Arizona. When it comes to Twitter followers, the Cardinals, Coyotes and Diamondbacks rank in the bottom three in their respective sports.

Being savvy with social media doesn't necessarily translate to on-field performance, however. While the New England Patriots (556,859 followers) were ranked No. 1 on the NFL list, the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys also made the top 3. Both teams failed to make the postseason in 2011 and 2012.

It should be noted, that several Cardinals players have adjusted just fine to social media on an individual level. Larry Fitzgerald (1,503,558 followers), Darnell Dockett (171,936 followers) and Jay Feely (70,837 followers) have each in their own right become fan favorites on Twitter.

Dave Dulberg, Web Content Editor - ArizonaSports.com

14 Comments   |   Join the conversation »
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  • Abuse
    SafteyE wrote...
    Really?
    What a completely worthless post. Since when does the amount of "twitter followers" mean anything? Do everyone a favor Dave - next time you are this hard up for a story, just post the words, "I Give Up." People will respect you more.
  • Abuse
    shava wrote...
    really?
    Who cares.!!
  • Abuse
    bozzman27 wrote...
    winning
    doesn't really have anything to do with it. There really isn't anyone worth following as far as personalities go. Dockett would be be good to follow if he wasn't so vulgar because some of the things he tweets crack me up. The other guys are pretty boring, even if they are good guys.
  • Abuse
    AZ Hope wrote...
    Who cares!
    I follow the Cardinals and the D-backs closely. I don't have a twitter account or spend much time on facebook. Doesn't mean I am not a fan. Just means that my thoughts from day to day are my own and sometimes its better not to share them but keep them to yourself.
  • Abuse
    DanTheTimid wrote...
    Interesting Article
    I'm a big fan of all arizona sports and follow them on numerous places... but twitter is not one of them, never taken any interest in twitter, so when you combine that with all the consecutive sell outs we've at at Cardinals Stadium, I'm not too concerned about the size of our fan base. That said, I did still find the article interesting, it might not say as much as some might suggest about the number of our fans, but it does suggest that we are less interested in gimmicky trends or whatever twitter is, then most of America. Whether that makes us old fashioned or just lazy I don't know.
  • Abuse
    Think4URself wrote...
    Thanks!
    For wasting my time.
  • Abuse
    Beardinals wrote...
    Well,
    Jugdging by the douchy comments left here - maybe it's for the better. Lighten up Francis! It's just a story passed on from the WSJ. What thundering exposé do you expect in the offseason on a Saturday afternoon?!
  • Abuse
    CreepyBrian wrote...
    Everyone knows....
    Valley sports teams are judged by butts in the seats, period. Cards? Check. DBacks? Check. 'Yotes? No clue. Suns? Nope. I mean, I'm sure some front office Cards staffer is fretting over the WSJ article, but the rest of us know what's what here, right?
  • Abuse
    2nam12 wrote...
    No kidding....
    This is mostly because nobody (relatively speaking) is actually from Arizona. Arizona is a popular destination for people moving from the east or midwest, and especially california. Several of my teachers in high school were Packers fans. My dad is a Rams fan( he grew up in LA), step mom is a Bears fan, my step dad is a Jets fan. Several close friends of mine are from Ohio and Illinois specifically.
  • Abuse
    2nam12 wrote...
    no kidding...cont
    If you have ever been to a Cardinals home game, agaisnt St. louis, Chicago, GB, Niners, etc. notice that its mostly away team fans there. Are ALL these people really driving from GB, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Missouri to tailgate and watch their team play the Cardinals? Of course not! They all live in AZ and are fans of their "home" team. This pretty much goes right along with all the other AZ sports teams.
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