Which soccer club boasts the largest global social media following?

Real Madrid topped off another successful campaign with a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund last Saturday at Wembley Stadium to add the Champions League trophy to their 2023/24 LaLiga title. The immediate future looks bright for the side from the Spanish capital with the newly revamped Santiago Bernabeu stadium set to be a revenue spinner hosting high profile concerts and NFL games in the future plus, on the pitch the arrivals of Endrick and world-class striker Mbappé will bolster an already formidable team.

In recent years, another area where the Spanish side dominate is via social media platforms with the communication strategy of the club considerably improving in recent years. Across the sporting world, established platforms such as Facebook, Twitter (X) and more recently TikTok and Instagram offer teams a golden opportunity to inform, entertain, market and engage with fans across the world and in 2023 ‘Los Blancos’ were the top soccer club in terms of attracting new followers with the club now leading the way with the most combined total followers.

This information comes from the latest study published by the CIES Football Observatory and according to their report Real Madrid have a combined social media (X, previously Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok) following now of 410 million ‘followers’.

LaLiga lead the way

Real Madrid are followed in the social media standings by arch rivals FC Barcelona with the Catalan side boasting a total following of 260 million users with Madrid’s Instagram advantage of 30 million helping tilt the balance in favor of the team from the Spanish capital.

Manchester United complete the podium in third place and despite being one traditionally of the most popular clubs globally, their poor recent form has seen them outpaced by the Spanish duo. Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain and Premier League champions Manchester City complete the top five.

The Messi and Cristiano effect

Despite the fact that both players are in the twilight of their respective careers, Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continue to generate massive interest on social media with testament to this being the uplift their new clubs (Inter Miami and Al Nassr) have experienced as highlighted by the CIES study. The report shows how, in 2023, both the MLS and Saudi Pro League clubs enjoyed a surge of new followers.

In 2023, only Real Madrid experienced a higher uplift of new followers (48.4 million) ahead of Inter Miami on 31.3 million. Al Nassr also saw an incremental leap adding 22.1 new followers to their social media portfolio thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo joining the Riyadh based side in January.

The Portuguese lead the way for a massive influx of talent into the Gulf nation and Cristiano’s arrival lead to massive exposure for the SPL with global broadcasting deals quickly being established and despite coming up short in silverware with Al Nassr, the Riyadh based side saw a social media boost with more than 22 million new followers signing up to official channels.

PSG’s downturn

Another interesting element to the report showcases the drop-off of Paris Saint-Germain on its social networks with the Parisian side losing almost three million followers last year and became the club with the most pronounced drop in followers of all those that appear in the study.

The CIES Study reflects data from 2023 and it’s expected with Kylian Mbappé's exit, the French club may even see a greater drop off in 2024 as global followers turn their backs on French football.