Trends x Sports - May 2024

May 2024

Trends in Sports Monthly Newsletter

What is this newsletter?

Every month, the Sports Trends Fanalyst on the Trends Data Team curates and highlights some of the biggest search trends in the sports world.

Months that begin with the letter 'M' are all about basketball. The NBA Playoffs marched full steam ahead with the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks punching their tickets to the NBA Finals. Meanwhile, the WNBA rookie class made their highly anticipated debuts as the 2024 WNBA season tipped off.

This newsletter contains Google Trends data surfaced, analyzed and published by the Google Trends Data Team. Please reach out to annanya@google.com for any questions or further inquiries regarding the data.

If you have any requests or want to know more, just let us know at trendsdatateam@google.com. Sign up for our daily public email here: goo.gle/trendsemail

Highlights of the Month

The Italian Open

was the top trending sports topic globally

Alexander Zverev captured the title for men's singles, while Iga Świątek won the women's singles tournament. Outside of Italy, Chile and Spain were the top countries searching for the Open.

how many ipl cups won by kkr

was a global breakout search

The Kolkata Knight Riders captured the 2024 IPL title with a win by 8 wickets over Sunrisers Hyderabad. It was the third IPL title for the Knight Riders and their first since 2014. Searches for "how to troll kkr fans" spiked +690% globally during the month.

Negro league baseball

is currently at an all-time high in search interest

On May 29th, it was announced that Negro Leagues stats would be integrated into the MLB record books. "best negro league pitchers" and "famous negro league players" were breakout searches in the US during the month.

NBA Playoffs 🏀

Game seven was the top trending topic in the US related to the NBA Playoffs in May 2024.

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See which states were searching for each of the Conference Semifinals matchups that went to Game 7.

Searches for biggest nba playoff blowouts spiked +3,450% in the US in May 2024.

Top searched NBA Playoffs "biggest"

(May 2024, US)

1. biggest nba playoff blowouts

2. biggest comeback in nba playoffs history

3. biggest margin of victory nba playoffs

4. biggest lead in nba playoff history

5. biggest 4th quarter comeback nba

Top searched NBA Playoffs "game"

(May 2024, US)

1. timberwolves vs nuggets game 2

2. game 7 nuggets vs timberwolves

3. knicks vs pacers game 7

4. knicks vs pacers game 3

5. nuggets vs timberwolves game 3

The NBA Most Valuable Player Award was the most searched of the NBA Awards in the US during the month. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić won his third MVP in the last four years.

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WNBA 🏀

Explore what people are searching for all season long at our WNBA trends page.

link to trends page

valkyries wnba was the top trending WNBA search in the US in May.

Top questions on the Golden State Valkyries

(May 2024, US)

1. What is a valkyrie?

2. When will Golden State Valkyries play?

3. where will the Golden State Valkyries play?

4. Who owns Golden State Valkyries?

5. How does WNBA expansion draft work?

Top searched Golden State Valkyries merch

(May 2024, US)

1. golden state valkyries purple hoodie

2. golden state valkyries sweatshirt

3. golden state valkyries shirt

4. golden state valkyries jersey

5. golden state valkyries hat

The Indiana Fever were the top searched WNBA team in the US in May.

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See the top searched team by county during the month.

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Searches for wnba debut reached an all-time high in the US in May.

Top WNBA "debut" searches

(May 2024, US)

1. Caitlin Clark WNBA debut

2. Angel Reese WNBA debut

3. Dyaisha Fair WNBA debut

4. Diana Taurasi WNBA debut

5. Kate Martin WNBA debut

Top searched WNBA rookies

(May 2024, US)

1. Caitlin Clark

2. Angel Reese

3. Cameron Brink

4. Kamilla Cardoso

5. Nika Mühl

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