Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow wears a Bengals sweatshirt before the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 18, 2022. Photo: Cincinnati Bengals media assets

Is Joe Burrow responsible for the Cincinnati Bengals’ social media boom? Possibly.

According to Fox Sports reporter Greg Auman, the Bengals have experienced a big increase in social media fans over the past three years. Since 2020, Cincinnati’s follower count grew by 73%, the most in the NFL, Auman said.

In his Feb. 22 post, Auman specifically highlighted teams’ Twitter followings, saying that the Bengals had 1.47 million fans on the platform, which ranked as No. 22 overall (the New England Patriots topped the list with 4.71 million followers). In October, the team had just 1.2 million, according to Statista.

The Bengals joined Twitter in 2009. Over the last 365 days, the account was most active between Sept. 9 and Jan. 23 with most tweets falling on game days, according to data from Twitonomy. The user the team account mentions most (besides Kettering Health, a partner) is quarterback Joe Burrow, with 87 mentions over the year.

In addition to Twitter, the Bengals have a commanding presence elsewhere, with 1.7 million fans on TikTok, 1.4 million on Instagram, 1.25 million on Facebook and 68.4 thousand on YouTube as of press time.

But hold up – go back to Auman’s mention of 2020. What happened that year? The Bengals signed Burrow, of course. Burrow commands his own online army, and his 962,000 Twitter followers no doubt have contributed to his team’s popularity and growth. 

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Will the Burrow-Bengals symbiosis continue? Burrow’s contract, which he signed in 2020 out of the draft and expires in 2024, currently is worth more than $36 million per year. The quarterback, who has said that he wants to remain a Bengal for life and contend for a Super Bowl title each year, is expected to sign a contract extension over the summer. Some experts predict that it could be close to $50 million annually for five or six seasons, making him one of the NFL’s highest-paid players at the position. Spotrac puts Burrow’s market value at $44 million.

Burrow would have good reason to test the waters outside of Cincinnati, considering the notoriety he’s received for his play. This month, PFF ranked Burrow at No. 3 on its list of the top 101 players of the 2022 season (wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase was No. 39, defensive tackle D.J. Reader was No. 41 and defensive end Trey Hendrickson was No. 56), and he’s set a number of records since being drafted.

Longtime sports agent Leigh Steinberg recently told Bengals.com reporter Geoff Hobson that he’s expecting the team to strike a deal with Burrow.

“Honestly, this appears to be a very happy marriage,” Steinberg said. “I don’t think this is going to be a difficult contract. It may be complex, but not difficult. I’d imagine you won’t hear anything about it until it’s done.”

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“The NFL has become a quarterback-centric league, and let’s define that as someone a team can build around for 10 to 12 years and can win because of him – someone who can compartmentalize in critical moments and block everything out and lead a team to that final drive for victory,” Steinberg added. “That has become the MVP of the NFL, and it’s almost impossible to get through the playoffs and the Super Bowl without that player. Maybe there are seven or eight of those, and Joe Burrow is clearly one of them. With him, the Bengals will be contenders for many years to come.”

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This article appears in Feb 22 – Mar 7, 2023.