The numbers above were taken on 4/19/2011 from Twitter and Klout. The numbers for retweets and @ mentions are for the number of retweets and @ mentions a team has received. I’m not sure which type of retweet Klout counts (built in Twitter retweet function vs. using RT in front of a tweet) or if they count both. I wanted to include “average tweets per day” in this table but Twittercounter was acting strange and not giving me completely accurate data.

Take a look at some of the winners and losers below. Obviously the teams below aren’t true “winners” or “losers” since I have no idea how much money and resources these teams are putting into Twitter and what they’re getting in return in the form of sales and cost savings/avoidance, as well as whatever other goals they’ve set that Twitter is contributing to. I just thought it would be fun to look at these numbers.

Winners

• Followers – LA Lakers
• Klout – LA Lakers
• Retweets – LA Lakers
• @ Mentions – LA Lakers
• Tweets – Chicago Bulls
• Bonus – first to join Twitter – Portland Trailblazers (5/28/07)

Losers

• Followers – Atlanta Hawks
• Klout – Atlanta Hawks
• Retweets – Memphis Grizzlies
• @ Mentions – Atlanta Hawks
• Tweets – Memphis Grizzlies
• Bonus – last to join Twitter – Denver Nuggets (3/23/09)

Observations

It is interesting to see these numbers, but it would take a lot more research to dig in and see why the numbers are like this and what teams are doing well/not so well to move the needle. But here are a few observations:

• The Lakers are the second most profitable NBA team (valued at $643 million here vs. the Knicks at $655 million) but are dominating the Knicks and all other teams from a numbers perspective on Twitter
• Twelve teams have more @ mentions than retweets. Four teams (Magic, Heat, Bulls, Nuggets) have more retweets than @ mentions.
• The Chicago Bulls have 1/9 as many followers as the Orlando Magic, but they have six times more @ mentions.
• The average ratio of interactions (retweets + @ mentions) to tweets is 1.75
  • Tweets from the Lakers generate the most interactions per tweet – 5.7 per tweet
  • Tweets from the Trailblazers (despite being the first of these teams to join Twitter) generate the lowest number of interactions per tweet – .36 per tweet
• The Orlando Magic have the second most followers but the sixth fewest @ mentions. They rank seventh in retweets. They have a relatively low amount of interactions per tweet (.61). I’m not sure what they’ve done to gain such a huge number of followers. Any ideas?

It’s late and I’m tired, so I haven’t done much more digging to understand why the numbers are what they are. What other insights can you find in these numbers?

Next up: A look at NBA Playoff teams and their Facebook pages.

Win a Suite (22 tix) against the Blazers tomorrow night. Respond #Timberwolvesgiveaway by Noon tomorrow to be entered. (1 winner @ random)

The Minnesota Timberwolves sent this out from their Twitter account as a way to reward people for following them on Twitter and surprise/delight a fan. The T-wolves only have a little over 150 followers now on Twitter, but I’m sure this will help them grow that number and give an amazing experience to one lucky fan. It’s great to see an NBA team embracing Twitter like this!