Ealier this month, we reported on the leading athlete-driven leagues of 2018. Our recap featured eight of the most powerful sports leagues in North America, all with one thing in common — their athletes create serious impact on social.
Here, we take a look at the familiar faces within those leagues who keep fans coming back for more.
View this post on InstagramCan’t even front, it’s just felt different! Goosebumps! #striveforgreatness? #thekidfromakron?
It’s understood that fans go wild for athlete-driven content. With the right tools and support, these individuals have the ability to drive unmatched social conversation and engagement.
The athletes listed below have embraced their unique platform to build their brands beyond the lines of their sport.
The data in this report offers a look at how the top athletes perform as individuals on social, measuring their audience, activity, engagement, and growth.
With over 111 million followers across Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, LeBron comfortably leads all players in total audience size. Meanwhile, Zlatan held onto second place ahead of fellow European league transfer, Wayne Rooney.
There’s no denying the impact that perennial powers like LeBron, Zlatan, and Steph Curry can have with their audience. However, several of 2018’s top athletes were up-and-comers like JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kyle Kuzma, who posted the two highest growth rates and sit near the top in several other categories.
While these young stars lack the audience size of the experienced vets, each claims strong growth and engagement, while ranking near the top in terms of quality content activity (posts including photos or video).
Top 100 athletes on social
Below is our 2018 analysis of the 100 most-followed athletes in North American professional sports. The ranking includes data for each athlete from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018.