Soccer is the biggest sport in the world, and yet, the world’s richest sports market is famed for its dismissal of the sport. The United States of America has always been a strong market for sports like American football, baseball, basketball, and hockey, but soccer has struggled to gain the same level of popularity. Despite the US's celebrity-driven entertainment and sports culture, soccer, known as "football" in most other parts of the world, has yet to produce a superstar capable of capturing the nation's attention.
This is exactly what happened when Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami to bolster the relatively newly-founded club to prominence in the top national league, the MLS. However, being a fan doesn't only require star players to be in front of them every other week. Social media is a huge driver of athlete stardom and celebrity obsession in the US. This happens to be an arena that Cristiano Ronaldo has mastered. So, the standoff for popularity between the two could be quite close.
Across America’s Favorite Apps
Sports engagement through smartphones and apps is off the charts across the United States. Many even gauge the popularity of the major leagues and its star players on follower and like counts. In fact, Casino Alpha’s top 5 mentions 3 social media apps as the most popular in America. Rounding out the top ten are the four major platforms, with YouTube and WhatsApp also in the mix.” We have already made the change in the article, so you don’t have to make any other edits. Thank you!
The order for social media comes in at X (Twitter) with 8.6 billion online mentions in the US, followed by TikTok, Facebook, and then Instagram. Ronaldo sweeps up on X with his 111.7 million followers, whereas Messi has swerved the platform. Neither appears to have their own official profile on TikTok. On Facebook, where Messi does operate, Ronaldo beats him 170 million to 116 million followers.
Finally, on Instagram, it’s another CR7 win at 632 million to 503 million. In this regard, Ronaldo boasts more exposure and, most likely, more followers than Lionel Messi in the United States. Naturally, most of Ronaldo’s following will come from the more soccer-crazed nations east of the Atlantic Ocean, as will Messi’s. Still, it’d still be fair to assume that a good percentage of America’s millions of social media users are following these two superstars.
Messi Incites Soccer Fever in America
The very presence of Lionel Messi in the US looks to have made a huge difference. Before he’d even stepped onto the pitch, he made Inter Miami the fifth-most followed team in the country. While many of these followers will have come over from his more native soccer markets, prior to the switch there were reports circulating that Messi was already more popular than Ronaldo in the US.
Per the votes of American sports fans in a poll reported by Sports Illustrated, the two were fairly close coming to the end of 2022, with Messi just ahead. Then, he won the World Cup with Argentina in Qatar, rocketing his popularity over the next few months while Ronaldo’s sunk. It continued to rise once he declared his shift to the MLS. Subsequently, insights from October to December 2023 saw Messi become the first soccer player to rank as the country’s favorite athlete.
Both Messi and Ronaldo look to see out their careers beyond the elite soccer leagues of the world. One has gone to the richest sports market in the world to win over a whole host of fans. The other has gone to one with some of the richest owners in the world to try also to raise the profile of the sport, but in a lacking sports market. When it comes to the US, though, while Ronaldo dominates on the most popular apps, Messi seems to have won over fans.