Instagram Highest Earners LIST: Following a £9 million World Cup bonanza, LIONEL MESSI could overtake Cristiano Ronaldo as sports’ biggest Instagram earner. In 2022, Ronaldo made £2 million per branded post, more than Messi, the other football great-of-all-time, who earned £1.5 million, and cricketer Virat Kohli, who earned £902,000. In terms of Instagram income, Kohli is the third-highest paid player worldwide. Follow Sports NEWS, LIVE updates & Scores with InsideSport.IN
Instagram Highest Earners LIST: World Cup winner Messi can knock out Ronaldo as Highest Earner from Instagram, Virat KOHLI at No. 3: Check DETAILS
But the Argentine legend’s valiant efforts in Qatar have sent sponsors into a feeding frenzy. The 35-year-old Messi also set an Instagram record with 75 million likes for a photo of him lifting the World Cup and 50 million hearts for a picture of him napping next to the trophy.
The PSG forward is far behind Ronaldo of Al-Nassr, who has 528 million Instagram followers, with 414 million. But since since winning a thrilling World Cup final against France on December 18 and scoring twice, he’s gone into online overdrive.
As the top player in the competition, Messi also took home the Golden Ball. Contrarily, Ronaldo, 37, played just as a substitute in Portugal’s final two matches as they lost shockingly to Morocco in the quarterfinals by a score of 1-0.
Additionally, over the last three weeks, Messi’s account has advertised Budweiser beer, the computer games Call of Duty and eFootball, energy drink Gatorade, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget, and the company Orcam that makes artificial eyewear. It all means Messi’s haul from paid partnerships has shot up.
On the other hand, Ronaldo may have been preoccupied with his own disastrous World Cup and his recent week-long hunt for a new club, which resulted in a move to Saudi Arabia. It’s a huge new enterprise that will pique interest around the world and bring him £173 million a year from Al-Nassr.
But in terms of athletic notoriety, it might not compare to Manchester United’s international reputation, which terminated his contract in November as a result of his explosive interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV. In reality, since Portugal’s loss to Morocco on December 10, Ronaldo has not announced any financial collaborations.
Clubmate of Messi a t £784,000 for each branded post, Neymar came in fourth on the list of Instagram’s highest-paid users. Basketball icon LeBron James rounds out the top five with an income of £545k. Messi and Ronaldo are the top two Instagram users, as well. Following them are American media personality Kylie Jenner (377 million), actress Selena Gomez (367 million), and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (356 million).
Two more athletes make it into the top 20. Neymar is in 20th with 200 million followers, while Kohli is in 17th with 230 million. Kylian Mbappe is in 36th place with 93.3 million, and LA Lakers legend LeBron James is 27th with 141 million. The two sports teams with the greatest followers are Real Madrid (130 million) and Barcelona (115 million).
Instagram Highest Earners LIST: World Cup winner Messi can knock out Ronaldo as Highest Earner from Instagram, Virat KOHLI at No. 3: Check DETAILS
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