How @frankmichaelsmith Hit 64M Views on Instagram With Sports Storytelling

Every sports creator on Instagram runs the same three plays: reaction videos, talking-head hot takes, and highlight compilations. None of them scale the way @frankmichaelsmith's account does.

His storytelling Reels pull millions of views at a time. A single video about a French gymnast switching nationalities did 17.7 million views. One about Jaylen Brown's academic background did 14.9 million. One about youth sports ethics did 6.1 million.

We analyzed 80 of his videos. Here's the formula, step by step, so you can run it yourself.

The numbers

Median 161K views. Average over 800K. This isn't lightning in a bottle. It's a repeatable format firing every time he posts.

The 5-step playbook

Copy this exactly. Each step is pulled from what actually worked across his 80 videos.

Step 1. Pick ONE person with a specific story

Not a team. Not a game recap. Not a general sports take. One human with a specific moment worth telling.

His biggest hits are all about one person:

• 17.7M views: a French gymnast who switched countries
• 14.9M views: Jaylen Brown's academic resume
• 4.3M views: Alysa Liu's figure skating comeback
• 2.4M views: Camryn Dailey, a 13-year-old sprinter
• 938K views: Cole Palmer's €250M transfer story

The story must have a pivotal moment: a decision, a rejection, a vindication, a surprise. If you can't write a one-sentence version of the story that makes someone say "wait, what?", skip it.

Step 2. Open with a Contrarian or Magician hook

These are his two highest-performing hook types.

Contrarian hook flips what the audience expects. Take the opposite angle on a known story.

Copy these templates:

• "Nobody fumbled the bag harder than [expected favorite]." (17.7M-view video)
• "Despite [obvious story everyone's focused on], [unexpected story] is bigger." (2.4M-view video)
• "The best story in [big event] isn't [expected subject]." (854K-view video)

Magician hook teases the reveal, delays the payoff.

• "[Person]'s resume might be..." (14.9M-view video)
• "I showed up to a party in jeans, not expecting to play any sports. But left with one of the coolest sports moments of my life." (1.3M-view video)

The viewer has to keep watching to find out what.

Here's the 2.4M-view video, classic Contrarian setup:

Step 3. Lead with an underdog-triumph arc (Inspiration)

Inspiration is the biggest emotional pattern across his top performers.

Inspiration averaged 2.8M views, 10× his overall average. His version of "Inspiration" isn't warm, generic positivity. It's a specific template:

Someone doubted. They persist. They win.

Every top video fits this structure:

• French gymnast failed by her country, switches nationalities, wins historic medal
• Jaylen Brown dismissed as "too smart", becomes Finals MVP
• Alysa Liu forced into sports as a kid, retires, returns on her terms
• Cole Palmer passed over by Manchester City, PSG pays €250M to sign him

Find the person. Find the moment of rejection. Narrate the vindication.

Here's the Cole Palmer video, a Proof Drop plus Vindication arc:

Outrage also works, if you're calling out a system, not a person. His single Outrage video (Little League critique) hit 6.07M:

Step 4. Format: B-roll plus voiceover. Nothing else.

His top 5 videos, all over 2.4M views, use the exact same format: B-roll footage plus voiceover. No face-to-camera. No walk-and-talk. No green screen reactions.

Why this format wins:

• You can tell stories you weren't personally there for (archival footage, pro sports, other countries)
• No personal-brand ceiling. The story carries, not your face.
• Easy to scale production
• Works even if you hate being on camera

How to execute:

1. Write the voiceover script first, tight, no filler
2. Find B-roll clips matching each beat (X, YouTube, news sites, with attribution where required)
3. Record the voiceover on your phone (AirPods mic is fine)
4. Edit: B-roll under voiceover, beat-matched. When you say the person's name, show their face.
5. Add minimal on-screen text for key names, dates, and numbers

Here's the 4.3M-view Alysa Liu video. Textbook execution:

Step 5. Go 60 to 125 seconds. Stop trimming.

His median is 77.6 seconds. His top 5 run 65 to 125 seconds. Every top performer is over a minute.

Most creators trim aggressively because they've been told "shorter is better." That advice is wrong for storytelling. A story needs:

• Hook (3 to 5s)
• Setup (10 to 20s)
• Rising action (30 to 45s)
• Payoff (15 to 25s)

You cannot deliver that arc in 15 seconds. You shouldn't try.

Instagram's algorithm rewards watch-time minutes, not completion percentage. A 90-second video at 50% retention delivers 45 seconds of engagement signal. A 15-second video at 100% delivers 15. Longer videos with good retention win.

Our broader 8,500-video dataset confirms it. 90-second-plus videos get stuck at 1.2% on TikTok. 12 to 24 second shorts get stuck at 9%.

The formula in one sentence

That's the whole thing. Everything else is execution.

What you can copy right now

Pull out your phone. Open a note. Fill in this template with one person in your niche:

Film nothing yourself. Pull footage. Write the voiceover. Record once. Cut it tight.

5 mistakes that kill these videos

1. Making it about you. Face on camera, reactions, "as a sports guy, here's my take..." Kills the story. Get yourself out of it.
2. Generic highlights without a story. A highlight reel is not content. There must be a specific person with a specific arc.
3. Going under 45 seconds. The story dies. Don't.
4. Skipping the hook. If the first sentence doesn't make someone say "wait, what?", rewrite it.
5. Trust-building openers. "Hey guys, today we're going to look at..." Dead on arrival. Open with the claim, not the intro.

The takeaway

Most sports creators compete on hot-take speed. @frankmichaelsmith competes on storytelling depth. He averages 800K+ views per video by ignoring the "post fast, post short, show your face" defaults, and by committing fully to one repeatable format with a clear emotional arc.

If your sports reach is capped, the problem isn't the topic. It's the format. Talking-head is easy to produce. B-roll plus voiceover scales harder.

The Content Labs runs this same breakdown on your own account and your top competitors. Which hook archetypes, emotional triggers, and formats are actually pulling the biggest numbers in your niche? Plans from $39/mo.