Lionel Messi, LeBron James, Neymar, David Beckham or Virat Kohli – which sports influencer can earn the most from a single Instagram post?
From the English Premier League to America’s NBA and India’s national cricket captain, these elite sports stars have millions of followers on Instagram, but would anyone really pay them up to US$1 million to make a post?
Elite sportsmen – and they usually are men – transcend the fields and courts they play on to become revered as celebrities and now social influencers. Not least financially – frequently branching out into their own fashion or perfume brands, while putting the issues they support front and centre of their feed.
Let’s look at the top 10 sports influencers, as ranked by Luxurylaunches, and look at how much their analysists reckon they could potentially earn per post.
10. Mohamed Salah, 39.5 million Instagram followers, US$180,000 per post
This Egyptian professional footballer famed for his finishing, dribbling and speed plays as a forward for Premier League club Liverpool. He is known as the jewel of Egypt and has many fans all over the world – but he himself is a big fan of sportsman Muhammad Ali.
9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 43.3 million Instagram followers, US$200,000 per post
The Super Swede took the Premier League by storm with Manchester United. The man is such a national hero in Sweden that his name has been added to the Swedish Dictionary as a verb that means to dominate or do something with extreme talent.
8. Gareth Bale, 43.3 million Instagram followers, US$200,000 per post