Fried chicken is a perennial fast food favorite in America–and in the last 12 months, more than 100 brands bought sponsorships or media in the QSR Chicken category.

Brands bought the following assets most frequently:

• Social Posts

• Property Entitlements

• Digital Content

• Television Ads

• TV-Visible Signage

Not surprisingly, social posts top the list of QSR Chicken’s favorite marketing tactics. The category counted more than 740 deals, totaling nearly 5K posts, across all partnerships in the last year. Each deal engaged an average 17.6K followers, with total engagement across all posts exceeding 13M.

Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane’s have the most sponsorships, and are also the most active brands on social media.

Chick-fil-A

The Georgia-based fast food restaurant–whose chicken sandwiches boast an almost cult-like following–leads the QSR Chicken category with more than 195 sponsorship deals.

The brand has cornered the sports market in its headquarter city of Atlanta, partnering with teams including the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta United FC, and the Atlanta Braves. It also struck sponsorship gold this year thanks to deals with MLB 2022 champions, the Houston Astros, and Los Angeles FC, which won the MLS 2022 Cup in thrilling fashion on November 5.

Raising Cane’s

The chicken finger eatery takes the second spot with over 145 total sponsorship deals. One of the biggest brands to sponsor college teams and athletes with more than 25 endorsements, its partners include University of Georgia quarterback, Stetson Bennett IV, LSU women’s basketball player, Alexis Morris, and Kansas men’s basketball standout, Mitch Lightfoot.

Raising Cane’s also sponsors 3 MLB teams: the Houston Astros, the Cincinnati Reds, and the St. Louis Cardinals. As the country’s fastest growing chicken chain continues to expand aggressively–opening 100 new locations across 10 new markets this year, including PA, NJ, and DE–it will be interesting to see if the Plano, Texas-based company’s partnership strategy reflects these bold moves.