Soccer superstars net the highest income for commanding their own audiences.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Lionel Messi lead all athletes in earnings from paid Instagram posts in 2019, according to Hopper HQ’s Instagram Rich List. Brands pay Ronaldo $975,000, Neymar $722,000 and Messi $648,000 per sponsored post on the photo-sharing network. These figures reflect the fact each star has at least 121 million-plus Instagram followers.
Retired soccer star David Beckham and NBA superstar LeBron James are fourth and fifth, earning $375,000 and $272,000 per sponsored post, respectively. Beckham’s follower count of 56 million-plus and James’ 50 million-plus are considerably lower than the leading trio.
Here’s who rounds out the top 10:
6. Ronaldinho (soccer)
7. Gareth Bale (soccer)
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (soccer)
9. Virat Kohli (cricket)
10. Luis Suarez (soccer)
Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar’s accounts know very well people don’t call soccer “the beautiful game” for nothing.
