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Ever wonder what the most followed sports leagues in the world are? There are countless professional sports leagues across the globe, although only a few can be considered the most popular. In this article, we’ll outline the five most followed professional sports league accounts based on their Instagram followers to get a basic rundown of which sports do the best job at grasping the attention of fans and players from all over.
Starting our list of most followed sports leagues in the world is none other than America’s NFL with 30.7 million followers. While it’s no surprise the NFL makes this list, it sits below its American basketball counterpart at less than half its Instagram follower count. Football is hands down the most popular sport in the US, especially in midwest states, although it lacks outreach in international markets, which is what most likely limits the follower count to 30.7 million. If the NFL keeps up its current marketing tactics, with more international games being played every season, it will likely continue to be the highest-grossing revenue league in the world and continue to gain new fans.
Surprisingly enough, Spanish soccer’s top division of La Liga has amassed 51.1 million followers on its official Instagram account. Showcasing teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona over the last decade have contributed to a large portion of the league’s growth, and both teams combined have a shared total of 403 million followers on their Instagrams. While American soccer (MLS) lacks behind in followers with only 5 million, Spanish soccer seems to be extremely popular amongst soccer fans all over the world, including the US. While soccer may not have as strong a hold in America compared to the NFL and NBA, La Liga is no doubt one of the most popular leagues enjoyed across all nations.
Similar to La Liga, although based out of the U.K., the English Premier League, commonly referred to as the EPL, has a total of 76.2 million followers on its official Instagram account. Where the Spanish soccer market thrives, the English market does an even better job at amassing followers to watch the world’s most competitive national soccer league. Every year, millions of fans tune in across the globe to watch some of the most competitive soccer you can find occurring in England, with teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City paving the way for the growing international sport.
With 89 million followers on Instagram and still rapidly growing, the NBA might very well be the most popular modern league out there globally. Many NBA players are recruited internationally, similar to Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball, where countries who follow the sport heavily support it. While events like the NFL Super Bowl are the most viewed sporting events in America, the NBA regular season, NBA Playoffs and NBA Cup have a large appeal globally, so it’s not a shocker to see the basketball league overshadow its football counterpart on Instagram.
Finally, the professional sports league with the most Instagram followers is none other than Europe’s UEFA Champions League with 117.8 million followers. Considering the UEFA Champions League pulls together fans from the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Süper Lig, and many more leagues from across Europe, it only makes sense that it’s the most followed Instagram sports league.
*IG follower numbers correct as at December 2024
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.