Ronaldo, Messi Top List of Highest-Paid Sports Stars per Sponsored Instagram Post
- Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo ranked first among the world's highest-earning athletes per sponsored Instagram post
- The latest data showed a significant earnings gap between Ronaldo and second-placed Lionel Messi of Inter Miami CF
- Virat Kohli, Neymar and LeBron James also made the top five, representing cricket, football and basketball
PAY ATTENTION: Mark Legit.ng as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!
Cristiano Ronaldo (679 million followers) earns an estimated $3.2 million per sponsored post on Instagram, making him the highest-paid athlete in the world for commercial social media content.
The figures confirm that Ronaldo's digital influence translates directly into commercial value, with brands continuing to pay a significant premium to reach his global following.
Source: Getty Images
2022 FIFA World Cup winner and eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi (517 million followers) ranks second on the list, commanding roughly $2.7 million per sponsored upload, as seen in an Instagram post by Livescore.
The gap between the two rivals is around $500,000 per post, and together they sit far ahead of every other athlete in the rankings, continuing a commercial competition that mirrors their long-running rivalry on the pitch.
Basketball and cricket stars make top 5
As noted by Foot Africa, the remainder of the top five spans three different sports and reflects the broad marketing appeal of elite athletes beyond football.
Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket star with 271 million followers earns an estimated $1.46 million per sponsored post. Former Barcelona forward Neymar (242 million follower), currently at Santos, follows with $1.21 million per post. NBA icon LeBron James (153 million followers) rounds out the top five at $866,000 per sponsored Instagram upload.
The data highlights how social media reach has become one of the most valuable commercial assets an athlete can hold.
Ronaldo, who has consistently ranked among the most-followed accounts on Instagram globally, generates returns that eclipses those of most mainstream advertising channels available to brands targeting international audiences.
Messi's position at number two underlines that his move to Major League Soccer has done little to diminish his appeal to commercial partners.
For Kohli, the ranking places a cricketer inside the top three for the first time, reflecting the sport's enormous following in South Asia and the purchasing power of that audience.
Messi and Ronaldo buy clubs
Legit.ng previously reported that Ronaldo and Messi top the list of active footballers who own football clubs after the Inter Miami star bought a second-division club in Spain.
Messi, who previously bought UD Cornelia, also acquired CD Eldense, months after Ronaldo bought a 25% stake in Spanish club Almeria.
Source: Legit.ng
