The San Jose Earthquakes & Chris Wondolowski Break Records
In a fledgling league like Major League Soccer, you don’t have to look far for inspiring stories, but Chris Wondolowski’s may be the best of them all.
Drafted to the San Jose Earthquakes in the fourth round of the 2005 MLS Supplemental Draft, Wondolowski made just 11 starts in his first five MLS seasons scoring four goals in a career that looked headed for either the minor leagues or retirement. However, a trade back to the newly-reformed San Jose franchise before the 2009 season changed everything.
Wondolowski’s career took off back in the Bay Area with nine straight seasons of double-digit goals. And, just like that the ‘Quakes found the new face of their franchise. Heading into the 2019 season Wondolowski needed one goal to tie the legendary Landon Donovan’s all-time MLS scoring record of 145 goals.
It took “Wondo” some time, but in his fifth start of the season on Saturday, May 18 at Avaya Stadium against the Chicago Fire, he became the best goalscorer in MLS history. Wondolowski scored all four goals in the ‘Quakes 4-1 win to shatter the MLS scoring record which now stands at 148 goals.
Of course, this was a moment the Earthquakes (and friends of the Blinkfire team!) had been preparing to celebrate for quite some time. When the big goal(s) finally came, they were ready — on the field and on social.
The centerpiece of the ‘Quakes content was an emotional All-Time Leading Scorer graphic as well as a perfectly-timed Game of Thrones-inspired illustration.
The graphic celebrating history has nearly 5,000 engagements on Instagram while the GOT-Inspired graphic has earned more than 4,500 engagements (and was a timely, creative touch from the ‘Quakes social team). The Instagram posts are now the team’s two most-engaging pieces of social content for 2019.
The Earthquakes earned nearly 88,500 engagements across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter on Saturday by posting dozens of pieces of great content. In fact, on Saturday the Earthquakes led MLS as the most engaging team on social media, with Minnesota United FC coming in second with more than 44,400 engagements and Atlanta United FC in third with nearly 39,700 engagements.
A look at the ‘Quakes’ Instagram daily engagement numbers since the start of the season tells quite a story.
When you combine a sporting event’s unpredictable magic with a digital team ready to pounce when the time is right, you can create some amazing results, and the San Jose Earthquakes showed how a team can capitalize a recording-breaking moment across social.
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