Over on Instagram, we have witnessed a meteoric rise in the popularity of individual players. Facebook’s study claims that 94% of sports fans use the platform to see the personal side of athletes. Ronaldo (158m), Neymar (112m) and Messi (111m) have the greatest number of followers (more than outshining their respective clubs), proving that some players are far bigger than the clubs themselves. Juventus’ Instagram grew by 4.7 million when Ronaldo signed; conversely, Real Madrid lost a million fans over the same period.
While the social footprint of star players is becoming increasingly important for clubs during the transfer window, it is perhaps more interesting to see how these individual players are using their personal social media profiles to increase fan engagement, not only for themselves but for their teams.
