Interest in Harrison Butker's social media, apparel spikes after Benedictine College speech: report
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has seen a surge in Instagram followings and a spike in interest in his jerseys and T-shirts after giving a speech celebrating traditional values, according to a report.
Casino Alpha, a website that caters to gamblers, released a blog last week analyzing Butker's popularity on social media as well as interest in his T-shirts and jerseys after his May 11 commencement speech at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, generated outrage and support as he touched on a variety of hot-topic issues.
While Butker's remarks led to more than 200,000 people signing a petition calling on the Chiefs and the NFL to dismiss Butker over his "sexist, homophobic, anti-trans, anti-abortion and racist" views that "reinforce harmful stereotypes that threaten social progress," the data analyzed by Casino Alpha shows that Butker has seen an increase in popularity in the week following the speech.
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The blog reports that Butker amassed 85,000 new Instagram followers between May 13 and May 20.
Butker's Instagram following has increased even more now that an additional week has passed. While the athlete had 411,000 Instagram followers as of the Casino Alpha blog's publication last week, that figure has now risen to 435,000.
"Before the speech started trending online, he sat at 326000 Instagram followers," the blog stated.
Casino Alpha measured the increase in Butker's Instagram following at 26% in the week after his Benedictine speech. After factoring in the additional followers his account has gained as another week has passed, his following has increased by 33%.
According to Casino Alpha's Google Trends analysis, searches for "Harrison Butker jersey" grew by 10,316% in the previous 30 days, while searches for "Harrison Butker t-shirt" rose by 38,211% in the same period.
"Interest peaked on May 17, increasing 104 and 39 times compared to the average volume," the blog reported.
Data analyzed by Casino Alpha shows that Butker's popularity led to a surge in interest in Chiefs apparel.
Searches seeking out "Chiefs tickets" rose by 2,995% in the past 30 days as searches for "Chiefs jersey" increased by 851%.
In his remarks at the Catholic educational institution, Butker called out President Joe Biden for supporting legal abortion even though the Catholic Church that he proudly proclaims himself a member of staunchly opposes the procedure.
"He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I'm sure to many people, it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice," Butker lamented.
The football player expressed opposition to society's embrace of in-vitro fertilization, surrogacy, euthanasia, "degenerate cultural values" and "dangerous gender ideologies."
Butker also delivered a message to the women in the audience, assuring them that while they were probably grateful for their degrees and any careers that they may have down the road, "the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world." He detailed how his wife gave up her career to become a stay-at-home mom and asserted that she would respond "heck no" if asked whether she regretted her decision.
Several of Butker's teammates and coaches — including Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid — have joined other notable celebrities in coming to his defense.
Butker defended himself during a speech he gave last weekend, vowing to remain "unapologetic" when it comes to proclaiming his Catholic faith.
"If we have truth and charity, we should trust in the Lord's providence and let the holy ghost do the rest of the work," he said. "Our love for Jesus, and thus our desire to speak out, can never be outweighed by the longing for our fallen nature to be loved by the world."
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
