Super Bowl LVI: Interest favors Bengals over Rams on social media, searches

Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Social media and search engine users showed more support and interest for the Cincinnati Bengals than Los Angeles Rams entering Super Bowl LVI on Sunday in Inglewood, Calif., according to Google and Twitter data.

Twitter reported that tweets from the United States about the Bengals double the number of tweets about the Rams since the start of the 2021-22 NFL season. A total of 48 states tweeted more about the Bengals, while just California and Hawaii tweeted more about the Rams.

The Bengals were the most tweeted-about team in the NFL, followed by the Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders.

Quarterback Joe Burrow, who was named the 2021 NFL Comeback Player on Thursday, was the most mentioned Bengals player, while 2021 Offensive Rookie of the Year Ja'Marr Chase, and Joe Mixon, Eli Apple and Tee Higgins were the other most mentioned Bengals players.

Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was the most mentioned Rams player, followed by 2021 Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp, Matthew Stafford, Von Miller and Jalen Ramsey.

Several Bengals and Rams players also predicted Super Bowl appearances or victories in tweets over the past several seasons. Mixon tweeted Dec. 22 that he planned to miss the Pro Bowl because "the Bengals will be playing in the Super Bowl."

The AFC Championship game, played between the Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs was the most tweeted about NFL game of the season.

Google trends data shows that the Bengals also were more searched for than the Rams over the past seven days. The Rams were involved in more searches over the past 30 days, three months and 12 months.

Over the past day, the Bengals owned a 53 to 47% edge on the Rams in searches.

Burrow is the most searched-for Bengals player on Google. Stafford leads Rams player searches.

Google also reported that searches for the history of the NFL spiked more than 600% over the past month. Searches for Super Bowl appetizers and the national anthem are among sites "breakout trends" over the past month.