10 Most Popular Athletes on Social Media
Sports are a hugely form of entertainment, with millions and millions of people who are ardent followers of different sports all over the world. Sports persons achieve a position of stardom in the eyes of the media and the fans, even when they are not on the ground, playing. Fans follow and emulate every move of their favorite athletes: how to play, how to stand, or how to look and behave the way the athletes do. Gone are the days when media like newspapers, magazines, television, etc. were the only sources to know more about the stars and how they are outside the field. Fans do not need to depend on paper cut-outs to save the interviews, gossips, photographs, etc. of the players. Now is the time for internet and social networking sites. Like all other celebrities, athletes, too, have taken to sites like Facebook and Twitter, and needlessly to say, they have enormous number of fans following their profiles. Let us take a look at 10 Most Popular Athletes on Social Media.
10 Most Popular Athletes on Social Media
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, who is popular as just Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese professional footballer. Born on the 5th of February, 1985, he is currently a part of the Spanish club Real Madrid where he plays as the forward. Besides, he is the captain of the Portuguese national soccer team. His first Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nomination came his way at the age of just 22 years, as he went on to receive it for the first time first time in 2008 and later achieved it again in 2013 and 2014. With earnings of $80 million, he has been ranked the second highest paid athlete, in the ‘The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes’ list published by Forbes. The number of his followers on Facebook is 106.9 million, and that on Twitter is 33.5 million, summing up to a total fan base of 140.5 million.
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2. Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini, who is popular as just Lionel Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer. Born on the 24th of June, 1987, he is currently a part of the Spanish club FC Barcelona where he plays as the forward. Besides, he is the captain of the Argentine national soccer team. His first Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nomination came his way at the age of just 21 years, as he went on to receive it for the first time first time in 2009 and later achieved it again in 2010 and 2012. He was inducted twice in the annual list of the most influential people in the world by Time Magazine, once in 2011 and then again in 2012. When he first launched his Facebook profile, it had more than six million followers within just a few hours, the number of his followers on Facebook is 78.1 million.
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3. David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, who is popular as just David Beckham, is an English professional footballer. Born on the 2nd of May, 1975, he is currently a part of several clubs like Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, Milan, LA Galaxy and Paris Saint-Germain. Besides, he is the former captain of the English national soccer team, with several records, and the first English player who achieved league titles in four countries, i.e. England, Spain, America and France. His final game as a professional soccer player was on 18th May, 2013. He was inducted in the FIFA 100 list of the greatest living players in the world, in 2004. In 2002, in an article by Simpson published on Salon.com, he was described as “the biggest metrosexual in Britain”. The number of his dedicated followers on Facebook is 51.9 million.
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4. Neymar
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, who is popular as just Neymar Jr., is a Brazilian professional footballer. Born on the 5th of February, 1992, he is currently a part of the Spanish club FC Barcelona where he plays as a forward or a winger. Besides, he is the captain of the Brazilian national soccer team. His first South American Footballer of the Year award came his way at the age of just 19 years in 2011, as he later achieved it again in 2012. He won the FIFA Puskás Award for Goal of the Year in 2011. He the first Brazilian athlete to be honored by Time Magazine, and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in February 2013. In May 2013, the SportsPro magazine named him as the most marketable athlete on the planet, the first Brazilian to get the honor. The number of his followers on Facebook is 51.7 million, and that on Twitter is 16.8 million, summing up to a total fan base of 68.6 million.
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5. Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson, who popular by his ring name The Rock, is an American professional wrestler and actor. Born on the 2nd of May, 1972, he played college football for the University of Miami where he achieved a national championship for the Miami Hurricanes football team in the year 1991. He was also part of the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League. His first appeared in the wrestling world was with the name “Rocky Maivia” and later, during his work in the World Wrestling Federation between 1996 and 2004, he came to be known as “The Rock”. Dwayne Johnson’s first appearance in the leading role in The Scorpion King was in 2002, and he was paid $5.5 million, setting a world record the amount received as an actor for his debut role. The number of his followers on Facebook is 46.1 million, and that on Twitter is 8.1 million, summing up to a total fan base of 54.2 million.
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6. John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena, who popular as John Cena, is an American professional wrestler, and also a popular rapper and actor. Born on the 23rd of April, 1977, He began his career in the franchise player of World Wrestling Entertainment in 2005. He clinched the WWE World Heavyweight Championship 12 times, setting a world record. He also achieved the WWE United States Championship three times and became the Tag Team Champion four times. He achieved the Royal Rumble twice and won the Money in the Bank ladder match in 2012. John Cena is known to be a huge Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays and English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur fan. Cena is known for his muscle car collection with more than 20 one-of-a-kind cars. The number of his followers on Facebook is 36.6 million, and that on Twitter is 6.8 million, summing up to a total fan base of 43.5 million.
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7. Ricardo Kaka
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, who is popular as Ricardo Kaka or just Kaká, is a Brazilian professional soccer player. Born on the 22nd of April, 1982, he is a part of the club named Orlando City where he plays as the attacking midfielder. Besides, he was also a member of the Brazilian national soccer team. He joined Milan in 2003 and was paid a joining fee of €8.5 million. His first Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards came his way in 2007, as he went on to join Real Madrid for a transfer fee of €65 million, after he succeeded in Milan, where he made his comeback in 2013, after 4 years in Spain. He was part of the squad of Brazilian national team that emerged victorious in the World Cup 2002. He was inducted twice in the list of the most influential people in the world by Time Magazine, once in 2008 and then again in 2009. He is the first athlete to have 10 million Twitter followers. The number of his followers on Facebook is 32.7 million, and that on Twitter is 22.1 million, summing up to a total fan base of 54.8 million.
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8. Ronaldinho Gaucho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, who is popular as Ronaldinho Gaucho or just Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian professional soccer player. Born on the 21st of March, 1980, he is a part of the Mexican club named Querétaro where he plays as the attacking midfielder or forward. Besides, he was also a member of the Brazilian national soccer team. He grabbed 33 goals in his 97 appearances for the Brazil national football team. He was part of the squad of Brazilian national team that emerged victorious in the World Cup 2002. That very year, he was inducted the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. Ronaldinho was on the list of FIFA 100 compiled by Pelé, and was inducted in the FIFPro World XI from 2005 to 2007 consecutively. The number of his followers on Facebook is 30.3 million, and that on Twitter is 11.5 million, summing up to a total fan base of 41.9 million.
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9. Mesut Ozil
Mesut Özil is a German professional soccer player. Born on the 15th of October, 1988, he is currently a part of the English club Arsenal. Besides, he is part of the of the German national soccer team, which he joined in 2009. Before that, he had been a member of the German youth national team since 2006. His first international reputation was when his nomination for the Golden Ball Award in the 2010 FIFA World Cup came his way, as he went on to be ranked first in assists, in 2011 after grabbing 25 assist in Major European and domestic competitions, as well as in 2012, with 17 assists in La Liga. He also clinched the position of top assist with three assist in both 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012. In 2010, he achieved the Bambi award as the most successful German athlete. With earnings of $80 million, he has been ranked the second highest paid athlete, in the ‘The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes‘ list published by Forbes. The number of his followers on Facebook is 27 million.
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10. Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan, who is popular as Michael Jordan or by his initials MJ, is a former American professional basketball player, as well as an entrepreneur and chairman and principle owner of the Charlotte Hornets. Born on the 17th of February, 1963, he played for 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association for the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards. His own website states, “By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.” He is also nicknamed “Air Jordan” and “His Airness”. He has been inducted in the All-NBA First Team ten times and in All-Defensive First Team nine times. He bagged the Most Valuable Player Awards five times and the All-Star Game MVP Awards thrice. On January 20, 2015, he was honored as the 2014 Business Person of the Year by the Charlotte Business Journal. The number of his followers on Facebook is 27.7 million.
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The athletes on their social pages share their photographs of events, new styles they are adopting, etc., as well as their thoughts, some big events in their lives, and many such things. This way, they can interact with the fans more regularly, and this only makes them even more popular.