Despite the decline of his unique career, Cristiano Ronaldo is still the most followed athlete in the world. This isn’t that surprising, considering the top 10 includes great exes like Beckham. What about Italians?
CR7 doesn’t give up: still the most social athlete
The 10 most followed athletes on IG in 2023
No longer a permanent candidate for the Ballon d’Or, he no longer graces the stages of the world’s most important championships, having chosen a golden “retirement” in Saudi Arabia. But, Cristiano Ronaldo is always on top As a brand and a company, it is a space where one can easily identify as an athlete like Michael Jordan who has managed to turn himself into a billion-dollar company more than anyone else.
However, if Jordan is not even on social media because he is probably a man from another era, CR7 is a perfect interpreter of the current social panorama. According to calculated by Hopper HQ website, 596 million followers They generate approximately $3.2 million in potential value for every post on Instagram. Behind the Portuguese there can only be his arch rival: Lionel Messi.
The Argentinian star is the second most followed athlete in the world with 479 million people; There is a clear difference between it and the CR7, but they are both behind. unattainable for almost anyone: The third is actually Brazilian Neymar, who has “only” 210 million followers. Among non-football players, the living basketball legend Lebron James ranked fourth with 156 million, while Kylian Mbappé closed the top 5 with 105 million.
Other top 10 and absence of Italians
Hopper HQ’s top 10 is completed by David Beckham (80 million), Ronaldinho (73 million), Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Momo Salah (both 61 million) and Paul Pogba (59 million). Three former football players are now entrepreneurs, confirming that fame does not necessarily die with the end of their competitive careers, if it is accompanied by good entrepreneurial talent. No Italian but that only applies to the current one absence of great football players?
Maybe yes and maybe no. Definitely the two best Italian athletes of the year, Pecco Bagnaia and Jannik Sinner, they are too far away. The new double MotoGP world champion has 1.5 million followers, while the tennis player has 1.3 million. But the sinner is a special case, despite being essentially neutral on social media. He gained a lot in 2023We would also like to thank the many sponsors.
Bagnaia and Sinner’s following will surely grow further and he currently remains the strongest Italian athlete on social media. Valentino Rossi with 15.9 million followers even a few years after quitting. Another big old name like Gigi Buffon followed him with 11.1 million, while the active athlete with the most followers was Gigio Donnarumma (5.2 million).
