Biggest Instagram Surges In Sport Over The Last 5 Years

Article By Charlie Mullan

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I spent 11 years as a sports reporter at the Hull Daily Mail before spending a couple of years at the Press Association, where I helped set up their bespoke betting channel using sports data to provide content to accompany odds operators were offering in key matches. I now use a vast collection of sports data to help tell a story and highlight the best odds available in various sports at Gambling.com and bookmakers.co.uk.

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Last Updated: 15 Feb 2024

When Lewis Hamilton announced he was leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari, it made headlines across the world. 

The seven-time world champion will remain with Mercedes for the 2024 campaign and make the switch for next year’s championship.

It’s arguably the biggest switch in the history of Formula 1 and Ferrari fans are counting down the days before they see their new driver in Ferrari red. 

As soon as Hamilton’s news was announced, Ferrari’s social media experienced a surge in followers, including over 178,000 on Instagram. 

At Gambling.com, we thought we’d go back over the last five years to find some of the biggest surges in Instagram followers after major signings.

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Messi Remains The Main Man

When Lionel Messi announced he was leaving Paris St-Germain, speculation began as to where he would end up.

Messi helped Argentina win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and he had the pick of any club in the world. 

He chose Inter Miami, who are owned by David Beckham. In the days after Messi’s announcement in July 2023, the club’s Instagram following increased by over 6.7 million. 

Inter Miami are favourites with many football betting sites to win the MLS title this season. 

In October, Messi won his record-breaking eighth Ballon d’Or, putting him three clear of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, who has 120 million more Instagram followers than his Argentine rival, didn’t lead to as big of a surge when he joined his last two clubs. 

In 2021, Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford to join Manchester United, whose Instagram following was boosted by 3.2 million new followers. 

Two years later, when CR7’s relationship with United hit rock bottom, he agreed to join Saudi Arabia side Al Nassr, who’s IG following increased by 4.1 million new followers.

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Neymar One Of The First To Go To Saudi Arabia

Messi’s Paris St-Germain team-mate Neymar is also playing his football in Saudi Arabia. 

The Brazilian joined around the same time as Ronaldo and his transfer saw Al Hilal’s following on IG grow by around 736,000.

Jude Bellingham was last summer’s hottest property after he announced he was leaving Bundesliga side Dortmund. 

Some of the biggest clubs in Europe fought for the England midfielder’s signature and Real Madrid won the race to sign him.

When the news was confirmed, Real Madrid’s Instagram following jumped by around 680,000.

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The world of baseball was on tenterhooks when Shohei Ohtani figured out where his new home should be. 

After six successful seasons individually as a Los Angeles Angel, he announced he would be joining the Dodgers in the same city. 

Ohtani’s fans made the switch also and began following the Dodgers’ Instagram account to the tune of over 290,000 in the week after the announcement. 

Erling Haaland’s switch from Dortmund to Manchester City in the summer of 2022 had a similar impact with close to 210,000 new followers on the club’s IG platform in the first week.

Haaland is favourite with betting sites to win a second successive Golden Boot award. 

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In September, when Taylor Swift was seen at a Kansas City Chiefs game, it confirmed the rumours that she was dating tight end Travis Kelce. 

Within a week, almost 100,000 new followers had begun following the Chiefs, who were underdogs with many UK betting sites to win Super Bowl LVIII.

When Tom Brady revealed the next chapter in his glittering career would take him to Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers’ IG account grew by close to 85,000 new followers. 

More followed when the GOAT helped his new team win a Super Bowl in his first season.

Methodology

To put this article together, we used data from Social Blade to track how many new Instagram followers each team gained in the first week of a major signing. 

In the case of Taylor Swift, we tracked how many new followers the Kansas City Chiefs gained after she was seen at her first NFL game. 

Updated by

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I spent 11 years as a sports reporter at the Hull Daily Mail before spending a couple of years at the Press Association, where I helped set up their bespoke betting channel using sports data to provide content to accompany odds operators were offering in key matches. I now use a vast collection of sports data to help tell a story and highlight the best odds available in various sports at Gambling.com and bookmakers.co.uk.

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Charlie Mullan

Last Updated:   15 Feb 2024

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