Ranking the Top Influential Players in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final

In case you missed it, the Stanley Cup Final has been one to remember in the history of the league, with the 2024 edition going for seven games and delivering one of the biggest finishes that the NHL has ever seen, with the Edmonton Oilers almost coming back from an 0-3 deficit against the Florida Panthers and pulling off one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the league. But aside from that fact, it cannot be denied that the number of high-profile players in the league really played a huge role in the hype on the Stanley Cup Final.

What Do High-Profile Players Mean for the Stanley Cup Final?

In Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final alone, the TV ratings have reflected a historic number of 16.3 million viewers on average have tuned in across various sports networks in North America. That marks the clinching tilt the second-most-watched NHL game in 20 years. For context, the whole series averaged just 8.8 million viewers – which is the most that the Stanley Cup Final ever had since the 2013 clash between the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks.

Game 7 alone was aired on various platforms, such as ABC in the U.S., streaming on ESPN+, and on CBC, SN, and TVA Sports in Canada. Of course, it had a promising result. Florida went on to win a decisive Game 7, claiming their first NHL title in franchise history which ended a long-running drought. On the other hand, Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Finals MVP award, which led to his greater recognition as an elite star player on the NHL’s big stage.

But what played a huge role in the Stanley Cup Final’s massive popularity among the masses is the number of players who have a solid presence in social media. These players are influential indeed, but what if the Stanley Cup Final featured some of the biggest icons in the game?

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Ranking the Top Influential Players in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final

According to a 2022 study from the Dominican University of California, there are four categories that separate tiers of social media influencers. A mega influencer is said to be a person with more than a million followers, while a macro influencer is anyone who has at least 100,000 to 1 million followers. Personalities with 1,000 to 100,000 followers are considered to be micro influencers, while any personality with less than 1,000 followers is labeled as a nano influencer.

For sports personalities, it is expected to have at least a promising presence on social media, mainly on Instagram and Twitter/X. However, not all athletes have accounts managed by their respective social media teams or themselves, which is why it is worth noting that there are some sports personalities who do not have an established presence on both platforms.

The Estimated Post Price represents a player's potential earnings based on each individual post they create, without taking into account the engagement they receive over time. In this research, we compared the potential earnings from a single post for players with 30,000 followers and above.

Most Influential Players in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final

Based on the analyzed data, Connor McDavid has the largest social media following on Instagram among all athletes in the Stanley Cup Final. The winner of the Conn Smythe Finals MVP award has a total of 1,200,000 followers on Instagram alone. He could potentially earn between $10.2K and $12.2K per sponsored post, making him the most financially valuable athlete in the Stanley Cup Final at that time.

McDavid is the only player from both teams with over 1 million followers, solidifying his status as a major influencer according to the research parameters.Evander Kane, whose price range is between $4.4k to $5.2k, and Leon Draisaitl, with a price range of $4k to $4.8k, are ranked second and third on the list, respectively. It's interesting to note that the top three spots are held by players from the Edmonton Oilers. Additionally, Vladimir Tarasenko holds the fourth position in terms of overall followers on his Instagram account. However, we couldn't generate a price per post for him as he doesn't have a professional Instagram account that we can analyze.

Top 10 Highest-Earning 2024 Stanley Cup Final Players

Matthew Tkachuk is currently the top player for the Florida Panthers on social media, boasting an impressive following of 187,300. With such a substantial fan base, Tkachuk has the potential to command between $2.6K and $3.1K for each sponsored post. His social media clout ranks him fifth overall in terms of followers and fourth in terms of earnings from sponsored posts.

Joining Tkachuk in the top 10 are teammates Aleksander Barkov, who has 145,000 followers and estimates charging $2K to $2.5K per post, and Aaron Ekblad, with 83,000 followers and an expected charge of $1.3K to $1.6K per sponsored post. These three players stand out as the only representatives of the Florida Panthers in the top 10 earning potential, each with the ability to command over a thousand dollars for a sponsored post.

What is the Impact of Influential Players on the Stanley Cup?

Considering that the Stanley Cup is the biggest stage in the NHL, it cannot be denied that players who have a strong social media presence play a huge role in dictating the ratings of the said series. With a lot of influential athletes on the list, it is worth noting that the 2024 Stanley Cup definitely has racked up massive numbers in terms of viewership thanks to the presence of icons such as Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Sam Reinhart, Evander Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Matthew Tkachuk, and Aleksander Barkov.

The NHL is home to a lot of notable athletes, and it cannot be denied that more high-profile players in the Stanley Cup can generate a bigger fan following in all of its games, which says a lot about how the 2024 edition has enjoyed success with the way it had influential players on the ice rink.

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