How NFL Teams Are Winning on Social Media in 2026

There’s a difference between posting on social media and actually understanding the internet, and more NFL teams are starting to understand the latter. The Chargers have been one of the clearest examples. Their content can jump from football to a trending conversation without feeling like a brand awkwardly inserting itself into a joke. That ability to speak the language of the internet is something Victoria Leopardi, STN Digital’s Social Account Coordinator, expects more teams to lean into this season.

“My prediction for this year’s trends is that we’ll see teams step up their meme game and use more internet-forward concepts. We’ve already started seeing teams like the Chargers lean into trending topics and memes. This has helped them tap into non-football audiences and drive engagement.

I also think teams will continue to use player-heavy content, creating organic videos that feel like they’re coming from a creator rather than a brand or team. The Chargers are a great example of a team coming up with fun and creative ways to show players’ personalities, whether that’s through QOTDs, pranking their players or using mic’d-up moments to create mini storylines.”

Fan Edits Might Finally Make the Jump to Team Accounts

If you’ve spent any time on sports TikTok, you’ve probably seen a fan edit that made a player look like the greatest athlete to ever touch a football. The footage might be familiar, but the music, pacing, and emotion completely change how the highlight feels. Fans have developed their own style for celebrating players, and some of those edits can generate just as much excitement as content coming from official accounts.

Shyam Ramachandran, STN Digital’s Sr. Social Media Manager I, thinks teams are going to start taking more inspiration from that side of sports culture.

“I think the idea of “fan edits” is going to take over our feeds, and I’m surprised teams around the league haven’t already adapted that casual fan-edit style of video.

I’ve worked in sports media for nearly a decade and been a fan for nearly two decades. As a consumer, fan-style edits are easily some of the most engaging content to me, and the numbers back it up. Some of the top-viewed sports highlight videos use these kinds of edits to portray your favorite player making superhuman plays.

There’s something about this style of media that makes us fall in love with a player all over again and feel nostalgic about what we’re watching. NFL teams are understandably focused on what’s ahead and what’s trending, but sometimes they should spotlight the franchise players of the past and present, too.

These fan-style edits are here to stay, and I think they’ll be the next big thing to hit your favorite team’s feed.”

What makes this style interesting for teams is that it already feels connected to fandom. Instead of trying to create a branded version of how people celebrate their favorite players, teams have an opportunity to borrow from a visual language their audiences already understand. It could also give older highlights and franchise history a new life on platforms that are usually focused on whatever happened five minutes ago.

How Meta Glasses Could Transform NFL Behind-the-Scenes Content

Behind-the-scenes content has always been valuable in sports because fans naturally want access to the parts of the NFL they don’t normally get to see. That access could start looking a little different this year as wearable technology becomes easier for players to use without making every interaction feel like a formal content shoot.

Mau Urcadez, STN Digital’s Social Media Manager II, sees Meta glasses as one way teams and players could bring fans closer to those moments.

“Some of the highest-performing content across sports social is BTS content. As Oakley’s official on-field partner and exclusive eyewear provider for the NFL, I think we’ll see a lot more players using Meta glasses to capture authentic, first-person moments, whether that’s on game day, signing autographs, or creating BTS field content.

It gives fans an exclusive perspective into the NFL that they wouldn’t normally get. Heartfelt, authentic moments with fans also tend to drive strong engagement, and Meta glasses make it easy for players to naturally capture those interactions without disrupting the moment.

It’s a simple way to create more authentic, player-led content while giving fans a unique view into their experience.“

The difference between watching an interaction and experiencing it from a player’s point of view might seem small, but it changes the feeling of the content. A moment with a fan can happen naturally without someone standing nearby holding a camera, and that gives teams another way to capture the parts of game day that usually disappear as quickly as they happen.

How NFL Teams Are Turning Social Media Jokes Into Season-Long Content

Social teams are constantly looking for the next moment, but Mally Hassan, STN Digital’s Social Media Manager I, thinks some of the smartest NFL accounts this year will get better at recognizing when a moment is worth keeping around. A joke that starts during training camp or after a random player comment doesn’t necessarily need to disappear when the feed refreshes. If fans latch onto it, there is an opportunity to turn it into something much bigger.

“I think we’re going to see a lot more running jokes and callbacks in NFL social this season, with admins doing more to keep those jokes alive.

Something funny might happen in Week 2 during arrivals, in a press conference or even in the comments, and instead of getting one post out of it and moving on, teams will keep bringing it back. Once players start playing along and fans know the reference, it can turn into a season-long bit.

The best accounts will find ways to keep those things going so the feed feels connected, rather than like a bunch of posts that have nothing to do with each other.

The Houston Texans pulled this off perfectly and even won Best Comedy Video at the 18th Annual Shorty Awards for it. I think we’ll see more teams take this kind of approach on social.“

That kind of running joke gives a team’s feed a sense of memory. Fans who have been following along understand the reference immediately, while newer followers slowly get brought into it. Over time, the account starts to feel less like a collection of individual posts and more like an ongoing conversation between the team, its players, and the people following them.

Getting to Know the Player Beyond the Helmet

Knowing more about the person behind the player can completely change the way a fan experiences the game. Social has already made player personality a bigger part of NFL fandom, and Macie Hanson, STN Digital’s Social Account Coordinator, expects teams to keep finding ways to make those personalities part of the weekly experience.

“My biggest NFL social trend prediction this season is getting fans closer to their favorite teams and players beyond the helmet.

Personality-driven content is already a big part of how the NFL shows up on social, but I expect it to become an even bigger way for fans to feel connected to their team beyond the game itself.

From signature touchdown celebrations and recurring postgame win bits with players to jumping into trends that play into inside jokes, these moments give fans a reason to engage and feel like they’re part of the team experience, even when they’re not at the stadium.

This year will be about creating social moments that fans recognize, anticipate, and share with each other, building a stronger sense of community around their favorite teams and players.”

When fans understand the personality behind a celebration or already know the joke a player is referencing after a win, the content has more meaning. Those moments can become something fans look forward to each week, which gives the relationship between a team and its audience somewhere to go beyond the scoreboard.

International NFL Games Create New Social Media Opportunities

The NFL’s international schedule gives teams an opportunity to step outside their normal content routine. Players are in unfamiliar places, local culture becomes part of the experience, and teams suddenly have an entirely new group of fans and references to interact with. After seeing how social content around global sporting events has taken off in recent years, Janel Bond, STN Digital’s Social Media Manager II, thinks NFL teams will have plenty of fun when they head overseas.

“I think there may be some out-of-pocket international content when NFL teams head to international destinations. So many brands found success creating World Cup content for fans from other countries that I think we’ll see the reverse when the NFL goes international.

We may see Americans trying international foods, doing their best accents, or guessing logos from other sports teams abroad.

I also believe there’s going to be a team that becomes the ‘Wendy’s’ of this season on social and starts roasting everyone, whether they win or lose. I’m not sure which team it’ll be, but I feel like it could happen sometime around the holidays.”

The international games should give social teams more room to experiment because the surroundings themselves create new material. Janel’s second prediction is a little harder to forecast, but if one team decides to spend the season roasting the rest of the league regardless of its record, we’ll know who called it first.

Why NFL Teams Are Turning to Instagram Carousels

Short-form video has dominated social strategy for so long that it can be easy to overlook what’s happening with other formats. On Instagram, carousels have become a useful way for sports accounts to build a story around a moment instead of posting the highlight and hoping it stands out from the dozens of other versions already circulating.

Hugh Tomasello, STN Digital’s Associate Director of Social, thinks that behavior could make carousels an even bigger part of NFL social this year.

“I think carousels are going to continue making a comeback on Instagram and could match Reels in total reach this NFL season.

Multimedia carousels have continued to see significant engagement across sports properties because of their storytelling capabilities and how shareable they are. Every week, the NFL is riddled with storylines that fans hang on every word, and carousels are one of the strongest formats for telling the full picture in a social-first way.

Start with a hook using imagery from the moment and engaging text on screen to grab attention, then follow it with video content to bring the story home. Everyone is posting the same highlight in 100 different places now, so just throwing it on Reels isn’t enough anymore.

Don’t be surprised to see carousels all over your feed and potentially outpacing Reels on the platform during the 2026 season.”

The fact that everyone has access to the same highlight makes the way a team tells the story around it more important. Sometimes a Reel will still be the right answer, but a carousel can slow the moment down and give fans more context to spend time with. This season should be a good test of whether that behavior can translate into reach that competes with video.

NFL Social Media Will Focus More on Player Personality

Some of the best social ideas are incredibly simple. Give players the right prompt, let their personalities take over, and know when you already have enough to make something people will want to watch. Alison Taplin, STN Digital’s Social Media Manager II, expects that entertainment-first mentality to matter more this season than trying to make every post feel like a major production.

“This NFL season, I’m excited to see content that leans into player personality over highlights and scores. We’re all here for entertainment, so let’s lean into it.

Whether that’s through fan-generated videos or content made by NFL teams, I want to see an entertainment-first philosophy across the league. This video from the Chargers is a great example of highlighting multiple athletes in one piece of content that keeps fans engaged for the entirety of the video. It’s a fun question, but the best part is that the whole team gave similar responses. Fans gave their two cents in the comments and called out their favorite lines from the video. We do need to see a follow-up with Khalil’s reaction, though.

Not every piece of content needs to be high-lift. This video from the Bills is a simple edit with big impact. They asked everyone walking into camp what they did over the summer, and each player answered with something crazy about Cole Bishop. It was the perfect way to start the season with an inside joke between players and fans, and the comments are filled with fans adding their own answers about what Cole did for them over the break.

Not everything needs to be high-production with heavy editing.”

Alison’s prediction gets at something that runs through almost every trend our team called out. The biggest opportunity this season isn’t necessarily a new platform, editing technique or content format. It’s finding better ways to make people care about everything happening around the football.

The Best NFL Social Strategies Give Fans a Reason to Come Back

A fan edit can make an old highlight feel new again. A running joke can turn into something an entire fanbase understands. Giving players more room to be themselves can make people care about who they are when the helmet comes off. Even something as simple as choosing a carousel instead of a Reel can change the way someone experiences a story. None of these ideas require teams to reinvent social media. They require teams to understand what their fans enjoy and be willing to have some fun with it.

That’s what makes the 2026 season interesting from a social perspective. The NFL has never had a shortage of moments worth talking about, but the best accounts are becoming much more thoughtful about what happens to those moments once they hit the feed. The goal isn’t simply to post more, it’s to build a social presence that feels connected to the culture surrounding the team and gives fans a reason to keep coming back between games.

That’s also a big part of how we think about social media at STN Digital. The right approach looks different for every account because the audience, voice, and moments worth owning are different too. As kickoff gets closer, we’ll be watching to see which teams figure out their version of the new playbook first.