Typically, athletes have reached celebrity status in the past due to their impressive play in their respective sports. Today, however, athletes can reach that status through social media, regardless of how well they perform.
Playing well obviously helps their popularity, but social media has boosted the popularity of stars and role players alike. In fact, some athletes' social media presences are as large as the most famous influencers.
Let's take a look at which athletes are currently atop the social media chain.
Top Social Media Athlete Influencers
Soccer superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi lead the charge on Instagram. Ronaldo currently has 612 million followers on the app, while Messi has 493 million. For reference, Ronaldo and Messi have more followers than famous celebrities such as Selena Gomez (429 million), Dwayne Johnson (394 million), Kim Kardashian (364 million) and Taylor Swift (278 million).
Soccer's popularity worldwide is impossible to deny. It does not receive as much attention in the United States, yet, most Americans know who Ronaldo and Messi are: two of the best to ever play the game. In fact, both have an argument to be considered the best soccer player ever. Many fans have passionate opinions on the matter.
How about other sports though? Is it just soccer players atop the social media rankings?
The aforementioned Dwayne Johnson, who has played football and wrestled in the WWE, has 393 million followers on Instagram.
LeBron James is the first NBA player on the list with 159 million followers. Other American sports stars are well behind LeBron. Shaquille O'Neal (33.4 million followers) and Tom Brady (14.6 million followers) are among the top USA athletes, but unquestionably trail LeBron on Instagram.
Messi and Ronaldo: True Celebrities
Ronaldo and Messi stand out though. In fact, they are among the top celebrity/influencers in the world, per Brian Frederick of searchenginejournal.com.
In an article published in January of 2023, Frederick provided the top 10 social media influencers, taking Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) followers into account. Sure enough, Ronaldo and Messi led everyone on the list.
Ronaldo checked in with 787 million followers across the aforementioned social media platforms to take the top spot. Messi was second with 530 million total followers. The first non-sports influencer on the list was Selena Gomez, who came in third.
It's clear that soccer, which is the most popular sport in the world, is certainly capable of creating true celebrities. Even players who aren't necessarily superstars feature large social media followings in the sport.
