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- Vol. 82: White Sox: Turning losses into social wins ⚾
Vol. 82: White Sox: Turning losses into social wins ⚾
How the White Sox spiked their social media engagement during the worst season in team history
Case Studied
June 17, 2025
Many brands are reluctant to lean into the not-so-positive topics, especially when it’s self-referential.
But done thoughtfully, this strategy can work. Ryanair is beloved for its sarcastic humor on social media. Duolingo’s April Fool’s Day campaign—which poked fun at users’ reactions to their own push notifications—quickly became the best-performing social media post in the brand’s history. And in 2024, the Chicago White Sox found themselves at a crossroads for how to handle a very difficult season.
This week, Case Studied explores how the White Sox spiked their social media engagement during the worst season in team history.
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The Brief:
The Chicago White Sox are one of MLB’s oldest teams, with a history dating back to 1900. They’re one of only eight charter members of the American League and have played in Chicago since the inaugural 1901 season.
Fast forward to 2024 and the team was facing a brutal season. They started with a 3-22 record, the worst start in franchise history and the second-worst in modern baseball history. When they lost their 121st game in September, they surpassed the 1962 Mets for most losses in a season (woof). And when the year finally ended, they’d notched just 41 wins out of 162 games.
A performance like that might trigger PR silence for most teams. But the White Sox social team took it as an opportunity to engage fans in a new way.
The Execution:
The White Sox’s refreshed social media strategy kicked off after months of internal dialogue. There were numerous cross-department brainstorms and copywriting workshops that involved teams ranging from Digital Content and Design Services to Corporate Partnerships and PR.
The goal was to acknowledge the reality of the season through self-aware social posts that would drive fan engagement.
To do that, their in-house team used memes and text-only posts that didn’t follow the usual straightforward, templatized posts fans see from team accounts. Instead of posting the final score of games, the White Sox communicated scores in a different way (without actually revealing them). They said things like:
FINAL: the other team scored more runs than us
FINAL: the number of runs we scored was not greater than the number of runs they scored
FINAL: can be found on the MLB app
When the historic 120 and 121st losses of the season came around, which tied and then broke the 1962 Mets record for most losses in a season, the social team turned to memes to highlight the unfortunate milestones.
The Results:
This social strategy paid off big time for the White Sox. Across 13 posts, they saw over 36 million impressions and 1.7 million engagements. Their TV, radio, and online new impressions surpassed 149 million, with an estimated publicity value of $3.4 million. Coverage spanned national, regional, and hyperlocal outlets, including ESPN and Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Across all internet discussion, they saw a 4% increase in positive sentiment. The White Sox social media channels saw a 60.5% increase in engagements and a 48.8% increase in impressions. And the team’s social audience grew significantly, too. On X, they saw a 26,133% increase, Instagram grew by 141.5%, and TikTok saw an 80.6% bump.
The cherry on top, though, was the fan reactions. They tweeted at the team saying things like, “I’m sorry this is happening to you. But it’s absolute gold for the rest of us. I hope you get a raise” and “Thanks for bringing us laughter in an impossible situation White Sox social media person.”
One person even said, “I might become a White Sox fan just because of the posts that are made!”
Key Takeaways:
1) Lead with honesty.
The White Sox couldn’t beat around the bush of reality. So they leaned into honesty and fans appreciated it. The gesture showed humility and self-awareness, without being overly self-deprecating.
Humor, transparency, and relatability go a long way with audiences. Consider the ways you can infuse that into your touchpoints. For audiences, it can be refreshing to see conversational language and humor. And setting your brand apart like that could even help boost engagement.
2) Don’t wait to build connection.
When they’re winning, most sports teams post enthusiastically. When they lose, their posts are often pretty sterile. But with this social strategy, the White Sox proved that engagement isn’t just about performance, it’s about presence.
Building loyalty isn’t a fair weather activity. Sharing your brand’s journey, even through difficulties, can do a lot of legwork when it comes to fostering a connection with audiences. It could be worth having a discussion about how to integrate the both wins and challenges into your storytelling strategy.
3) Let your social team play.
The White Sox social strategy wouldn’t have worked without trust. Their social team was given the freedom to joke and experiment in a way the team never tried before, and that paid off tenfold for the brand.
Amazing things can happen when teams are given creative freedom. Evaluate how much your team is given on a daily basis. Do you have room to stretch that allotment? Giving a little more could mean getting more back (sometimes, a lot more).