Tracking the Baltimore–New Zealand rugby audience relationship over time
This page is a working proof of concept for how New Zealand Rugby and the Baltimore Ravens could publish live audience intelligence powered by Hyperset. It combines current search-demand data, geographic interest, team-share analysis and a rolling weekly pulse to show what the Baltimore–New Zealand crossover looks like in measurable audience behaviour.
A shared story already exists. The missing layer is independent audience evidence.
New Zealand Rugby and the Baltimore Ravens no longer need an invented reason to appear in the same story. The All Blacks played South Africa at the Ravens’ home stadium on 12 September 2026. Ravens Vice President of Health and Performance Dr Nic Gill arrived in Baltimore after nearly two decades with the All Blacks. NZR has since published multiple pieces explicitly comparing rugby and the NFL and featuring the Ravens environment.
That creates a stronger editorial question: did the sporting connection create measurable audience crossover? Hyperset’s role is to answer that without either organisation having to make the claim itself.
From one-off fixture to an ongoing Baltimore–New Zealand sports corridor
Maryland is one of the strongest US markets for All Blacks search interest
DataForSEO’s 12-month state-level Google Trends index places Maryland at 75 on a scale where the highest-indexing state is 100. That makes Maryland the third-highest indexed state in the current dataset, behind Alaska (100) and Hawaii (97), and ahead of Washington (72) and West Virginia (71).
Research implication: Baltimore is not sitting in a neutral rugby market. Maryland already over-indexes strongly for All Blacks search interest.
Source: DataForSEO Trends, 12-month US state-level relative-interest dataset. Figures are indexed, not absolute search volumes.
How Maryland’s All Blacks search demand has moved since October 2025
The historical picture is more nuanced than a simple upward trend. Maryland’s estimated monthly All Blacks search volume has risen recently, but its share of total US demand has moved up and down as national interest changed.
Interpretation: Maryland’s absolute search volume reached its highest point in the current series in August 2026, while its share of total US demand was higher earlier in the year. That distinction matters: growth in raw searches does not necessarily mean Maryland is gaining share nationally.
California drives the most All Blacks searches — but Maryland punches above its size
Using DataForSEO’s state-level Google Ads search-volume estimates for the term “All Blacks”, Hyperset measured approximately 34,580 monthly searches across the 50 states. California contributes the largest share at 15.62%, followed by Texas at 8.39%, New York and Florida at 6.94% each. Maryland contributes 2.54% of measured US demand.
Why this matters for the Baltimore story: the host state contributes a meaningful 2.54% of national All Blacks search volume while ranking third in the country for relative affinity. That combination is more interesting than either metric alone: Maryland is both a real source of demand and a disproportionately strong rugby-interest market.
The Baltimore event sits inside a measurable NFL search environment
Hyperset’s stored DataForSEO series for the Baltimore Ravens shows a clear change in US Google search interest around the Baltimore weekend. The index was 2 on 12 September, rose to 15 on 13 September, fell to 5 on 14 September, and reached 15 again on 20 September.
The Ravens already hold a meaningful share of NFL team interest in New Zealand
Hyperset’s fresh DataForSEO New Zealand collection across all 32 NFL teams estimates roughly 50,010 monthly team-name searches in total. The Baltimore Ravens account for about 1,900 searches, or 3.80% of that measured team demand. That places Baltimore in a joint #9 position by current search volume, alongside the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles.
Baltimore’s share of NZ NFL team searches over time
The monthly series shows why share-normalisation matters. Ravens volume changes with the NFL calendar, but its share of all NFL team-name searches gives a cleaner signal. Baltimore’s share rose from 3.10% in June to 3.98% in July and was 3.70% in August, the latest complete month currently available.
Where do the Baltimore Ravens sit in New Zealand’s NFL search market?
Hyperset’s latest New Zealand search-demand analysis compares the Baltimore Ravens with all 31 other NFL teams. Rather than relying on raw volume alone, the analysis measures Baltimore’s share of total NFL team-name demand in New Zealand.
Why this matters: the Ravens already have a measurable audience position in New Zealand before Hyperset attempts to attribute any effect to the Baltimore–All Blacks relationship. That gives the partnership a useful baseline: future movement can be measured against an existing level of NFL team interest rather than starting from zero.
Source: Hyperset analysis of DataForSEO Google Ads search-volume data for all 32 NFL teams in New Zealand. The current monthly dataset runs through August 2026; later months will be added when released.
Measure the crossover in both directions
1. Is US interest in the All Blacks rising?
Track US search demand for All Blacks and New Zealand rugby terms over time, then compare pre-Baltimore, event-week and post-event periods.
2. Did Maryland over-index?
Compare Maryland with the US average and other host/sports markets to test whether the Baltimore fixture produced a distinct local audience effect.
3. Is NFL interest growing in New Zealand?
Measure league-level NFL search demand in New Zealand and compare it with the same period in 2025 to control for normal seasonality.
4. Are the Ravens gaining share in New Zealand?
Compare Baltimore against all 32 NFL teams so any Ravens uplift is measured as share of NFL attention, not just raw seasonal growth.
Built to separate genuine audience movement from event noise
Search demand
DataForSEO search-volume and Google Trends datasets, using market-specific and time-series views where available.
Share, not just volume
For NFL team comparisons, team demand should be divided by total NFL team demand in the same market and month. That controls for league-wide seasonal surges.
Independent validation
Official NZR and Ravens publishing, Google Search Console and dated event milestones are used to validate timing and context. Correlation is not presented as causation.
Current research status: Hyperset already holds the Ravens US series and live Search Console evidence shown above. A dedicated New Zealand market series for the NFL/Ravens and a dedicated US series for All Blacks/NZR are the next collection layer. Until those are complete, this preview deliberately avoids claiming that either organisation has already grown because of the partnership.
A live audience-intelligence module, not a static article
Hyperset gathers the audience signals
Search volume, Google Trends-style relative interest, geography, team share and publisher performance can be refreshed on a defined cadence rather than researched once and left to age.
Category seasonality is separated from team movement
Where possible Hyperset compares a team’s share of total category demand, rather than treating a league-wide seasonal rise as evidence that one organisation has grown.
The same verified dataset can power partner websites
NZR or the Ravens could publish selected maps, rankings and trend modules on their own sites while Hyperset remains the independent source and calculation layer behind them.
New observations can replace old ones automatically
The weekly crossover pulse on this page is the prototype: as fresh observations arrive, the module can update without the partner rebuilding the article or chart manually.
NZR already has the story, the people and the Baltimore connection. Hyperset can turn that into a defensible audience study, publish the neutral research hub, and supply a complete NZR-facing article focused on what the US data means for the All Blacks. A corresponding Ravens-facing version can then use the same underlying research to tell the New Zealand side of the story.
Potential NZR headline: “What Baltimore tells us about the All Blacks’ growing American audience”
Potential Ravens headline: “How the All Blacks are introducing Baltimore to a new audience in New Zealand”