‘In a league of her own’: Sophie Cunningham by far the most popular WNBA player on Instagram

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has become one of the most polarizing figures in the WNBA over the past year. She’s also become the league’s biggest draw on social media, and it isn’t particularly close. A new breakdown of Instagram data shows that Cunningham generated more engagement than any other WNBA player this season. In fact, she more than doubled the per-post average of Caitlin Clark, who ranked second. Sophie Cunningham’s Rise Cunningham was thrust into the national spotlight over the summer when she spoke out against transgender women competing in women’s sports in an ESPN profile. She later doubled down, calling her stance “common sense.” Cunningham has looked to capitalize on the attention since then. In August, she was reportedly shopping a “tell-all” book , which could lead to a bidding war among publishers. Her Adidas shoes also sold out after her comments went public and her jersey instantly became of the league’s best-selling jerseys, behind only Clark. All of that has added up to a massive online following. And the numbers show just how big it is. ‘In a League of Her Own’ Brendan Kaminsky, the founder of digital agency bknown, broke down the Instagram engagement numbers of the WNBA’s top 50 most-followed players since May 8, using data from Mondo Metrics. “With the WNBA season ending this weekend, here’s a look at the total engagements on Instagram of its top 50 players this season. TLDR: Sophie Cunningham is in a league of her own,” Kaminsky wrote on X . According to Kaminsky, Cunningham racked up 8.3 million total engagements, accounting for 27% of the entire top 50. She averaged 518,000 engagements per post, 2.4 times more than Clark. “Each of her four biggest posts individually generated more engagement than the full-season totals of 46 of the other 49 players,” Kaminsky added. It is worth noting, however, that engagement can be both positive and negative, which certainly helps Cunningham after her controversial comments. Kaminsky also found that just four players dominate the league’s social media landscape. Cunningham, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, and Clark combined for 65.8% of all engagement among the top 50, or 20.2 million of 30.7 million total engagements. There’s one caveat, though. A’ja Wilson, who ranks sixth in followers with 1.6 million, hides her likes, so her engagement only reflects comments. Clearly, whether people love her or hate her, Cunningham has figured out how to get them to click. The post ‘In a league of her own’: Sophie Cunningham by far the most popular WNBA player on Instagram appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions .