Women's World Cup players boost Instagram following

The FIFA Women’s World Cup has driven huge growth in players’ social media following, with the great majority coming from Instagram, according to new data.

Figures from influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy show a collective increase of 15.6 million social media followers* across the 736 players competing, with Instagram alone accounting for 12.5 million.

Why social media numbers matter 

There’s an opportunity for brands to tap into players’ social media following, where engagement levels tend to be higher than for male players. But as more followers increase potential brand reach, it also increases the cost to brands. Billion Dollar Boy estimates the average player could now command a fee of £1,225 per Instagram post, rising to £121k for Swiss forward Alisha Lehmann, the most followed player at the tournament.

Takeaways

• Collectively, the England team saw the greatest combined increase in follower growth, gaining more than 2 million as they reached the final, followed by Brazil (1.98 million) and hosts Australia (1.83 million).
• Olga Carmona features among the top five players with the greatest growth in Instagram followers during the tournament, gaining more than 236k after scoring the winner in the final.
• Swiss forward Alisha Lehmann is the most followed female football player on Instagram, with a total of 14.91 million followers – gaining a further 1.14 million followers on the platform during the Women’s World Cup.

Key quote

“Brands that seize the momentum of the Women’s World Cup and its growing popularity are poised to reap the greatest rewards. If they can get the partnerships right, there is an opportunity to reach new audiences that are engaging with the sport for the first time whilst aligning themselves with sports influencers to develop a highly symbiotic relationship” – Becky Owen, Chief Marketing & Innovation Officer, Billion Dollar Boy.

*The agency tracked 1,282 player social media accounts across Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube to assess follower growth and engagement during the tournament (20th July 2023 - 20th August 2023).

Sourced from Billion Dollar Boy

[Image: Instagram]