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CHARTS: How popular are the Abbotsford Canucks?

Google Trends results reveal the team’s most searched dates online
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The Abbotsford Canucks had several spikes for Google Trends this year.

Just how popular are the Abbotsford Canucks?

One relatively new way to gauge popularity for sports teams is through Google Trends, which tracks Google searches for terms over a set period of time.

The Abbotsford News examined the Abbotsford Canucks’ Google Trends data using the term “Abbotsford Canucks” from the day the team launched on July 14 until Dec. 29. Data was collected from users in British Columbia only. That data can be seen below.

The number on the left is a relative value of the data being examined, and a 100 value in this case equals the day with the highest search volume.

In the Abbotsford Canucks’ case, that term reached its peak with a score of 100 on Oct. 23 – which was following the team’s home-opener vs. the Henderson Silver Knights on Oct. 22.

The next highest spike was on July 14 – the day the team’s name was announced. That day scored a 71 and the following day on July 15 scored a 54.

Other spikes occurred on Sept. 27 and Nov. 30, which both scored a 56. The Vancouver Canucks held an exhibition game in Abbotsford on Sept. 27, while Nov. 30 was a home game for the Abbotsford Canucks against the Ontario Reign.

Other notable spikes were on Nov. 14 (54) and Nov. 15 (47). The night of Nov. 14 was an Abbotsford Canucks game against the San Jose Barracuda. The top related query for the term is ‘abbotsford canucks tickets’.

When you expand the search area for the term to all of Canada, it reveals that people from Alberta and Manitoba are also searching the term. The top five related topics for the Canadian search include: Ticket - Admission, Farm Team, Abbotsford Centre, Abbotsford News and Flood.

Expanding the search to Worldwide sees related topics including the National Hockey League, Team and Abbotsford News. Related queries include ‘vancouver canucks’ and ‘abbotsford canucks roster’.

The worldwide search also shows that American states Arizona, Washington and California make up the majority of the searches south of the border.

However, when compared to established B.C. pro sports juggernauts like the Vancouver Canucks and BC Lions, the new Abbotsford team lags behind for now. Those comparisons can be seen in the chart below. This chart compares the team’s Google Trends in B.C.

The Vancouver Canucks remain the dominant brand in this chart, which compares the club and its American Hockey League affiliate with other professional teams in B.C. including the BC Lions, Vancouver Whitecaps and Vancouver Canadians.

The Vancouver Canucks reached a 100 score on Dec. 15, which was the team’s highest search volume compared to the other teams in this chart.

The Abbotsford Canucks received their highest relative scores on Oct. 23 (14) and July 14 (10).

The BC Lions had the top score among the teams listed on Aug. 7 (27), Aug. 19 (40), Aug. 29 (16) and Nov. 13 (42) The Whitecaps’ top spike was on Nov. 8, when they reached a 17 score. The Vancouver Canadians remained relatively flat in comparison to the other teams, but received small spikes of four in September and November.

Social media followings for the teams rank (note – Abbotsford Canucks social media was launched in the summer, with other teams having been established for several years):

Facebook Likes:

  1. Vancouver Canucks - 999,604
  2. Vancouver Whitecaps - 276,619
  3. BC Lions - 156,117
  4. Vancouver Canadians - 18,541
  5. Abbotsford Canucks - 2,615

Instagram Followers

  1. Vancouver Canucks - 543K
  2. Vancouver Whitecaps - 149K
  3. BC Lions - 47K
  4. Vancouver Canadians - 16.5K
  5. Abbotsford Canucks - 13K

Twitter Followers

  1. Vancouver Canucks - 1 million
  2. Vancouver Whitecaps - 333.8K
  3. BC Lions - 125.3K
  4. Vancouver Canadians - 26.4K
  5. Abbotsford Canucks - 10.4K

RELATED: Abbotsford Canucks trip to Manitoba postponed



Ben Lypka

About the Author: Ben Lypka

I joined the Abbotsford News in 2015.
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