Digital Value of Fans 2023
Digital Value of Fans 2023
Digital Value of Fans 2023
1-2
Introduction
3-9
Leagues
10-17
Teams
18-25
Athletes /
Influencers
26-34
Brands
Introduction
One of the few things in life that is certain is change, and the world of digital and sports is no exception
to this. And, whilst change is inevitable one constant that the sports industry needs to remain focused
on to ensure sustainability and future growth: the fan. The tried and tested model of fandom has been
challenged. As a result, fans have developed digital communities to drive connection with each other,
their favourite athletes and their favourite teams, sport is increasingly reliant on digital channels and in
particular social media to communicate and extrapolate the most value from their fans.
As digital channels continue to represent such an increasingly significant source of value for sports
rights holders, we have created our annual “Digital Value of Fans” report to better understand the value
of the digital landscape in sports. This year we’ve also recognized the value sports fans bring to brands
and media agencies, with over 590 brands generating almost 80M euros in total value, we wanted this
report to also look at digital in sports through the lenses of brands.
Firstly, which leagues and teams have the biggest digital inventory? While this list contains the “usual
suspects” it is important to understand this element of size, in terms of which properties command the
biggest audience and convert this to the greatest digital value. Secondly, and perhaps of greater
insight, which of these leagues and teams are more efficient and are more successful at extracting
value per fan? This measure of efficiency is a key metric in evaluating how properties are performing;
similar to the concepts of GDP and GDP per Capita, the biggest teams and leagues will always have the
largest overall inventory due to the size of their followings, but which teams are generating the most
value relative to the size of their audience? Thirdly, how do influencers and talent play a role in the
digital world? Looking at influential athletes (like the Messi’s and Ronaldo’s of the world) but also the
pure ‘influencers’ such as Mr Beast and ranking them in terms of value per fan, what value do they bring?
Finally and perhaps most importantly for the future of sports in the digital ecosphere is the role of
brands. How do brands engage in sports activations? What are engaged and valuable categories and
content series? Taking a look at the current opportunity for brands and where their money is best
spent.
The Digital Value of Fans uses the power of Horizm’s platform and the rigour of its analytics to deliver
data driven answers to all these questions, and more, including an analysis of which channels drive the
most value.
1
Digital Value of Fans 2023
APPROACH
In this report we have used Intelligenz to compare performance over 12 months, looking at audience
size, value per fan and the primary drivers of value - activity levels and post performance - from the
world’s leading sports leagues, teams, athletes, content creators and brands... For this report, we have
focused all analysis on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok during 2022.
(number of posts)
2
Leagues
Leagues Digital Value of Fans 2023
863,363,469
Premier League 863,363,469863,363,469
La Liga 863,363,469
735,447,161
NBA
451,846,770 863,363,469
NFL
255,099,678 863,363,469
Bundesliga
204,376,481 863,363,469
IPL
187,983,111 863,363,469
Brasileirao
177,936,971 863,363,469
MLB
141,018,748
F1
138,787,319 863,363,469
NHL
88,708,036 863,363,469
Euroleague
36,257,948
863,363,469
MLS
34,873,671
863,363,469
Eredivisie 33,342,624
863,363,469
MotoGP
25,916,742
863,363,469
La Liga 2 13,102,071
NASCAR
11,619,824
Scottish Premiership 9,873,925
J1 League 9,279,441
4
Leagues Digital Value of Fans 2023
La Liga €420,095,730
Brasileirao
€268,139,056
NBA
€222,333,691
NFL
€186,988,122
IPL
€171,821,711
MLB
€121,012,048
F1
€117,597,037
Serie A €116,226,852
Ligue 1 €106,176,800
Liga MX €82,790,876
NHL
€75,126,748
Bundesliga
€55,839,800
MLS
€25,698,239
Euroleague
€22,975,293
Eredivisie €20,964,090
J1 League €18,071,506
La Liga 2 €13,066,978
NASCAR
€9,757,563
MotoGP
€9,013,937
5
Leagues Digital Value of Fans 2023
AUDIENCE GROWTH
1000
+52.74%
750 +36.87%
500
+26.61%
+37.22%
250 +31.44%
0
2020
2021
2022
VALUE GENERATED
800
600
+58.99%
400 +91.78%
+88.73%
+122.00%
200
+71.56%
0
2020
2021
2022
6
Leagues Digital Value of Fans 2023
J1 League €1.95
Brasileirao
€1.51
La Liga 2 €1.00
IPL
€0.91
Liga MX €0.90
MLB
€0.86
F1
€0.85
NHL
€0.85
NASCAR
€0.84
MLS
€0.74
NFL
€0.73
Euroleague
€0.63
Eredivisie €0.63
La Liga €0.57
NBA
€0.49
Ligue 1 €0.43
Serie A €0.38
MotoGP
€0.35
Bundesliga
€0.27
7
Leagues Digital Value of Fans 2023
7%
6%
Average ENGAGEMENT RATE
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
CONSERVATIVE APPROACH VOLUME PLAY
NUMBER OF POSTS
8
Leagues Digital Value of Fans 2023
The top 25 leagues have a combined audience American Sports have 5 leagues in this
of 4.2B people generating more than 2.8B ranking, including 3 on the top 10 with NBA
euros a year and 676B impressions with their being the biggest one. Despiste the domestic
digital inventory
Football Dominance:
Not surprisingly, football is the dominant sport
in the World with 6 out of the top 10 leagues
and 16 out of the top 25 being football
leagues. These 16 leagues are from 13
different countries in 4 different Continents
showcasing the global nature of the Sport.
9
Teams
Teams Digital Value of Fans 2023
Barcelona
314,982,773
Paris Saint-Germain , ,
176 155 545
Juventus
136,508,763
FC Bayern München ,
115 575 ,282
AC Milan 59 1 , 21,794
Flamengo
52,928,838
Galatasaray
4 0,095,711
Mercedes
31,363,020
11
Teams Digital Value of Fans 2023
Chelsea FC €78,792,011
Flamengo
€71,596,763
Arsenal FC €48,969,854
Juventus
€37,265,148
Mercedes
€35,860,757
Galatasaray
€25,340,907
AC Milan €23,393,747
12
Teams Q1 2023/Report
Real Madrid has grown significantly the value they have generated from their digital inventory fueled by
growth in audience and activity level (number of posts published)
AUDIENCE GROWTH
400
+35.66%
+34.04%
300
200
+48.55%
+104.65%
+33.01%
+43.48%
100 +51.16%
0
2020
2021
2022
VALUE GENERATED
250
+127.47%
200
+66.34%
150 +41.51%
+157.14%
100
+00.0%
+36.21%
50
+91.67%
0
2020
2021
2022
13
Teams Digital Value of Fans 2023
Mercedes
€1.14
Galatasaray
€0.63
Barcelona
€0.53
AC Milan €0.40
Juventus
€0.27
14
Teams Digital Value of Fans 2023
7%
6%
Average ENGAGEMENT RATE
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
CONSERVATIVE APPROACH VOLUME PLAY
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000
NUMBER OF POSTS
15
Teams Q1 2023/Report
The partnership of Khaby Lane with Juventus in their kit launch, it's the most valuable post of 2022.
Followed by a few full time results from Real Madrid.
Borussia
Manchester United Mönchengladbach.
Kit Launch Adidas On this Day Sure Secure
4 value €113,426
5 value €102,950
16
Teams Q1 2023/Report
Land of giants:
Quantity matters?:
These 25 teams generate about 50% of the From the analysis, we can see there is not a
value (with also about half of the total direct correlation between volume of posts
audience) that the top 25 leagues do. Just and engagement rate which speaks volume
these teams alone have a combined audience about how fans tend to always engage with
of 2.4B and generate an annual value of 1.4B Sports teams. As seen in the Brazilian
euros.
17
Athletes /
Influencers
Athletes
100M
200M
300M
400M
500M
600M
700M
800M
80
7,3
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athletes/influencerS ranking by audience
Cristiano Ronaldo continues to be clearly the biggest athlete in terms of social following. Messi and
Mr
Be
as
t
Digital Value of Fans 2023
Athletes
40M
50M
60M
70M
80M
90M
100M
200M
10
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athletes/influencers ranking by audience
Digital Value of Fans 2023
Athletes Digital Value of Fans 2023
Mr Beast €49,810,935
Neymar
€29,482,792
Ronaldinho
€12,772,119
Marcelo
€4,919,157
Kaka
€1,305,952
21
Athletes Digital Value of Fans 2023
Mr Beast €0.46
Ronaldinho
€0.08
Neymar
€0.08
Marcelo
€0.04
Kaka
€0.01
22
Athletes Digital Value of Fans 2023
14%
12%
engagement rate
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
CONSERVATIVE APPROACH VOLUME PLAY
NUMBER OF POSTS
23
Athletes Digital Value of Fans 2023
Mr. Beast
Leo Messi
Cristiano
Rihanna
1 value €1,277,841
Neymar
2 value €997,109
3 value €928,139
4 value €772,239
5 value €719,602
24
Athletes Digital Value of Fans 2023
vs 5.6%).
25
Brands
Brands Digital Value of Fans 2023
overall picture
There are more than 590 brands activating digitally in Sports generating almost 80M euros. Apparel,
Travel and Entertainment & Media are the more relevant categories.
21,11%
Apparel 5%
2,5
Travel 5%
3,1
Entertainment & Media
%
3,20
Financial Services / Insurance
Electronics / Home Appliances 4,55%
Automotive / Tyre
Betting & Gaming 5,56%
Drinks (beer) 17,15%
Crypto
6,8
Professional Services 2%
Other
12,37% 11,39%
27
Brands Digital Value of Fans 2023
Apparel
6.42%
E-Commerce
6.01%
Timing
5.82%
Education
5.36%
Travel
4.96%
0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7%
History
5.35%
Warm Up 4.97%
Birthday
4.84%
0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6%
28
Brands Digital Value of Fans 2023
Birthday
€45,955,581
History
€44,459,310
Goals
€24,768,989
29
Brands Q1 2023/Report
243K
361,568
338,000 likes
52,341,819 344,310
@efl 53,402,477 169,200 57,813,076
31.0K
surreycricket Have you ever won the Kia UK Catch Left-back’s on!...
during a Vitality Blast fixture at The Kia Oval?
Voll
Home Discover
e
yball World
Inbox Profile
180K
ENGAGEMENT IMPRESSIONS
7 147,720
@Volleyball World
7.8K
60,991,023
31.0K
AND I P !
See translation
30
Adidas is the big dominant player in the category with more than 60% of the total value generated.
From a most valuable activations perspective, kit launches are particularly popular.
80%
62.41%
60%
40%
20%
12.04%
10.66%
6.66%
5.31%
2.91%
0%
Other
Top Activations
31
Brands Digital Value of Fans 2023
100%
75.44%
75%
50%
25%
9.49%
3.22%
8.05%
1.96%
1.84%
0%
Other
Top Activations
Emirates / Real Qatar Airways / Paris Saint Qatar Airways / PSG - Emirates / Real
Madrid - Full Germain - Travel Branded Boarding Madrid - Full Time
Time* Content
32
Brands Digital Value of Fans 2023
75%
68.27%
50%
25%
18.15%
5.87%
3.35% 1.94%
2.42%
0%
Other
Top Activations
33
Brands Digital Value of Fans 2023
activation.
Dominant brands:
Opportunities galore:
In most categories, there is a dominant brand
With 98% of content still available, this Adidas in apparel, Emirates in travel and EA
highlights that at this early stage of social first Sports in Media. This is highly connected with
brand integrations with sport it is possible to the size and power of properties being
make a large impact and achieve greater SOV sponsored as well.
34
We Connect Brands to Sports Audiences
horizm.com