We love an influencer list, us. That’s why the Brandwatch React team took to Brandwatch Audiences to rank influential sports journalists on Twitter these days.

While never free from politics, sport can bring people together and provide at least some respite from the friction and hardship of day to day life. The people who tell those stories, who get people excited and highlight the important things, deserve to be celebrated and, in a highly competitive field, those who make it to the top are worthy of the followings they have built.

Finding the most influential sports journalists

For this research we used Brandwatch Audiences to search for sports reporters and then rank them using influencer metrics.

We looked for sports journalists (defined by any of the key phrases outlined on the right within their bio) who were based in the US and were verified.

The accounts were ranked according to a selection of criteria that are added together to create their influence score. This is a measure of how influential an account is over time, based on the level of genuine engagement they are creating. While lots of followers, retweets and replies will help, the more influential the people they engage with, the better the score.

The follower counts listed below were correct and rounded to nearest million at the time of writing.

We should note that this is definitely not a perfect way of finding the most influential sports journalists – many big sports reporters might not include these words in their bios, for example. The upside of that is that you may find influential personalities you haven’t already heard of in this list!

Here goes!

Now you know how we found them, here’s the list itself. We were pleased to see an even split of male and female journalists, as well as multiple languages represented – the top two most influential people in the list may surprise you.

10. Tom Withers (@twithersAP)

Tom is both a sports writer for the Associated Press and a prolific tweeter who gets great engagement on his tweets.

He’s based in Cleveland.

#Browns coach Hue Jackson on QB Tyrod Taylor: "We view Tyrod as a perfect fit to lead our team. He possesses the qualities we want of a starting quarterback. He’s smart, a leader, and an efficient passer that doesn’t turn the ball over. He’s a winner."

— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) March 14, 2018

Influencer score: 63

9. Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle)

Gregg is a journalist based in Seattle working for The News Tribune.

If you want to know about the Seahawks you should join the 25k others who follow Gregg.

#Seahawks Insider: Team salutes Michael Bennett, tenders Dion Jordan, hosts Demarco Murray & Austin Seferian-Jenkins (more on that), sets Thomas Rawls, Mike Davis free–but has no signings. Not yet https://t.co/haGOYloIbn @thenewstribune

— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) March 14, 2018

Influencer score: 63

8. Tony Massarotti (@TonyMassarotti)

Tony is a long-time Boston sports reporter currently working as a host on The Sports Hub.

He’s got opinions.

Give him the damn ball.https://t.co/w2qTViA62a

— Tony Massarotti (@TonyMassarotti) March 8, 2018

Influencer score: 65

7. Dana Jacobson (@danajacobson)

Dana is a CBS sport correspondent based in NYC.

When we checked out her Twitter page she was sharing #MarchMadness stories with her 74k-strong following.

It’s always the troublemakers in the back of the bus.. @Kevinharlan taking the 3rd seat so @ReggieMillerTNT Dan Bonner (not pictured) & I can ride in style. #Pittsburgh #MarchMadness Practices are over let the games begin! pic.twitter.com/CmWSgqAsQU

— Dana Jacobson (@danajacobson) March 14, 2018

Influencer score: 65

6. Lindsay Czarniak (@lindsayczarniak)

Lindsay has one of the most impressive followings of those on our list with 161k.

She doesn’t over-tweet but she often shares behind-the-scenes looks at both her work and family life.

Talked to @Daniel_Suarez earlier about how he used to watch this race weekend on tv as a kid in Mexico. He is leading with 2 laps left. I have chills @JoeGibbsRacing pic.twitter.com/4fUAAlZhwo

— Lindsay Czarniak (@lindsayczarniak) February 17, 2018

Influencer score: 65