The Most Followed Athletes on Instagram 2024
Through the use of Captiv8 insights, we took a look at the top 20 most followed athletes on Instagram to start off 2024, along with their growth in the last year. Notably, out of the top 20 most followed athletes, just five are not soccer players. Of those five athletes, two are NBA players, two are cricket players, and one is an MMA fighter.
The Most Followed Athletes on Instagram From Number 16-20
Starting off this list are two World Cup winners in Andres Iniesta and Antoine Griezmann. Joining them are Real Madrid superstar, Vinicius Junior, captain of the Indian cricket team, MS Dhoni, and MMA fighter, Conor McGregor.
The Most Followed Athletes on Instagram From Number 11-15
As we make our way down the list, two more World Cup winners can be found in the 11-15 spots in Paul Pogba and Paulo Dybala. In addition to them are former Champions League winners for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively in Luis Suarez and James Rodriguez. Additionally, our first NBA player appears on the list in Stephen Curry with 55.7M Instagram followers.
The Most Followed Athletes on Instagram From Number 6-10
As we make our way into the top 10 most followed athletes on Instagram, spots 6-10 are completely comprised of soccer superstars. This group contains for Champions League winners in Sergio Ramos, Mohamed Salah, Marcelo, and Karim Benzema. Taking the 6th spot is former World Cup champion, Kylian Mbappé.
The Most Followed Athletes on Instagram From Number 1-5
Lastly, the top 5 most followed athletes on Instagram in 2024 are comprised of three soccer players, an NBA player, and a cricket player.
Analyzing the Follower Growth of the Most Followed Athletes on Instagram
When analyzing the follower growth percentage of these top athletes over the last year, we found that PSG star, Kylian Mbappé witnessed the highest growth percentage. This is likely in part due to his outstanding performance at the 2023 World Cup. Following him, was Karim Benzema who recently moved teams from Real Madrid to Al-Ittihad, further exposing him to a new a fan base. Rounding out the top 5 were Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Virat Kohli.
When analyzing the gross follower growth of these top athletes over the last year, we found that it was nearly identical to the top 5 most followed athletes, with the one exception being Kylian Mbappé replacing Neymar. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s gross follower growth outpaced every other athlete on this list by at least more than double.
Conclusion
Nowadays, younger audiences are consuming a large portion of their sports media online. 65% of young sports fans say big sports moments find them on social media, and 68% of Gen Z get the bulk of their sports info from social media. With the rising virality of sports media on social media, partnering with these athletes has never been more paramount to reaching younger audiences. With platforms like Captiv8, brands can tap into the sports stars on the rise in order to capitalize on hype and growing engagement. Interested in learning more about identifying the right influencers to partner with? Take a platform tour today!
About Captiv8
Captiv8 is a full-service influencer marketing solution that redefines end-to-end, inspiring you to think bigger, enabling you to plan smarter, and empowering you to execute better. Through our intuitive workflow, brands can uncover actionable insights on trends, discover and vet influencers, seamlessly activate campaigns at scale, amplify branded content across the digital ecosystem, and prove business impact through our measurement dashboard. Our platform gives you the tools you need to build relationships and effective content, while our teams lend experiences and strategic services to steer you clear of common influencer marketing pitfalls. Interested in learning more? Take a platform tour today!
