Former FC Barcelona star, Gerard Piqué, recently launched an ambitious–and potentially groundbreaking–post-retirement project: Kings League Infojobs, a new seven-a-side, Spanish football league established in December 2022. Piqué selected 12 partners, called “presidents” (high-profile digital content creators and other former football athletes, including Iker Casillas and Kun Agüero), to build their own teams from the ground up–from creating names and logos to hiring management and technical staff.

One especially high-profile president, influencer Ibai Llanos–a Spanish internet celebrity and renowned esports caster known simply as “Ibai,” whose events hold worldwide streaming records–heads up league club Porcinos FC. The league is leveraging Llanos’ massive following (more than 9M on Instagram alone)–along with the followings of its other presidents–to grow its viewership.

This strategy is proving wildly successful so far. The Kings League has already drawn legions of viewers since its inaugural season kicked off on January 1, 2023, helped in part by an appearance by Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho in the 8th “journey” (weekly game day, in Kings League parlance, aka "matchday"). In January alone, the league racked up 238M views on TikTok, while the league’s Twitch account drew the platform’s highest average number of viewers worldwide the same month.

Kings League rules differ from traditional football regulations, with the goal of adding dynamism to the game via tactics including a tie-breaker penalty shootout, unlimited substitutions, and special "secret weapons” (detailed below).

Anyone who wants to play for the league–from influencers to athletes, and everyone in between–can apply by submitting an application and video. Kings League then selects 200 players and holds a draft, where presidents and their coaches make their picks.

Rules & Regulations

• Kings League matches are held every Sunday from 4:00pm-10:00pm Central European Time (CET), and span 40 minutes divided into two halves.
• At the conclusion of the 11-journey regular season–which lasts just 3 months–the eight best teams proceed to the playoffs, which will culminate in a Final Four on March 26 at Camp Nou (FC Barcelona Stadium).
• There are 2 seasons per year; May 2023 begins this year’s second season.
• Before every match, each coach chooses an envelope containing a “secret weapon” (arma secreta in Spanish) that provides a playing advantage, which can be used once per game. The 20 “secret weapon” cards include the following advantages, among others:
• Double goal (6): For 2 minutes, goals scored will count as two.
• Penalty from the center (4): A penalty kick from midfield–1-on-1 striker against the goalkeeper, with no rejection possible.
• Wild card (1): Can be used as a wild card to play any of the other cards.
• Piqué (1): Gerard Piqué will join the team as a player for that match.
• At the 18th minute of the first half, a “League Card” is drawn that changes the number of players on the field (1vs1, 2vs2, 3vs3, 4vs4, or 5vs5) for the half’s last two minutes.
• There are no draws; if teams are tied at the match’s end, a penalty shootout decides the winner.
• In the starting kickoff, both teams must be on their goals until the countdown ends, and then run to take the ball at midfield.

On May 6, the Kings League will launch Queens League Oysho, named for the Spanish clothing retailer that’s its title sponsor. A women’s league with the same rules and format, its debut–to be played in tandem with the Kings League’s second season, with games held on Saturday–will help to further fuel the momentum of women’s football worldwide. 

League Sponsors

Kings League sponsors activate during matches via rotating billboards, product placement, and halftime challenges, among other assets. Each team can also sign its own sponsors, whose logos can be placed on the players’ jersey sleeves and shorts. Along with the weekly journey recap, “AfterKings,” broadcast Mondays on YouTube and Twitch–the league’s streaming partner–team presidents can stream their games on their preferred platforms, showcasing team sponsors with a product placement or digital billboard/logo activation.

INFOJOBS: The Kings League’s exclusive naming partner and primary jersey patch partner of all 12 teams, Europe’s leading career network brand also sponsors KOI, the esports team cofounded by Ibai.

Simyo: Marking one of its first forays into sports sponsorships, the Spanish telecom company ranks among the league’s main sponsors, whose assets include the “Simyo MVP” award.  

McDonald’s: To promote McDelivery, its delivery services brand, McDonald’s sponsorships in Spain span sports including football (Mirandes), basketball (Cazoo Baskonia), and esports (Movistar Riders), as well as out-of-home advertising worldwide. Within the Kings League, the fast food titan sponsors event-related content including the countdown to matches’ kickoff, and runs a banner ad on Twitch, the league’s streaming partner.

Grefusa: The Spanish food products manufacturer ranks among the league’s main sponsors, and also sponsors its referees. Active in the streaming market, the snack brand also sponsors Ibai’s events, as well as Team Heretics, an esports team.

XiaoMI: An active sponsor of football properties–including the Mexican and Finnish national federations–as well as music festivals and esports teams, the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer is one of the league’s main partners and its VAR (Instant Replay) sponsor. The brand’s logo also features on the back of all team jerseys.

CUPRA: The Spanish carmaker’s many sponsorships include the World Padel Tour, FC Barcelona, tennis events like the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, and KOI, Ibai’s esports club. As the Kings League Stadium Sponsor, the brand’s cars are displayed outside of CUPRA Arena, the league’s home.

Spotify: Hot on the heels of a landmark July 2022 deal with FC Barcelona that named the music streaming giant Main Partner and Official Audio Streaming Partner of the club–and saw the team’s stadium rebranded Spotify Camp Nou–the brand seized the opportunity to get in on the ground level of FC Barcelona alum Piqué’s newest venture, sponsoring the Kings League “secret weapon” cards.

‍

Given TikTok’s vast reach–the social media juggernaut reportedly surpassed 1B monthly users by year’s end 2022–it’s no surprise that it’s become the go-to platform for influencers to promote their partnerships.

Influencers have garnered 1B likes from branded posts with more than 1,800 brands on TikTok. Amazon, Walmart, L’Oreal, Shein, and CASETiFY lead the current list (in that order) of brands with the most deals with influencers on the platform.

The top categories with a branded TikTok post are:

• Consumer Products: 22%

• Apparel & Accessories: 17%

• Retail: 11%

• Technology: 10%

• Food Products: 6%

While some categories partner with influencers more than others, emerging categories like Real Estate and Government–each with less than 10 TikTok deals–are getting into the game with TikTok’s stock-in-trade: authentic content that piques consumers’ interest.

Case in point: vacation rental site VRBO, which created a campaign with former NFL player Tim Tebow entertaining friends in a rented VRBO property. The message: though your name might not rhyme with VRBO, you too can have a blast in a VRBO rental. Tebow’s TikTok following totals 758K, a fraction of his 4.6M followers on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas Tourism partnered with stock car racer Toni Breidinger to showcase her trip to Sin City and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, creating a #meanwhileinvegas campaign that provided a glimpse into the day of a visitor to Vegas. Breidinger has 2.1M followers on TikTok, while her audience across all social platforms grew over 20% in 2022.

Kylie Jenner, Charli D’Amelio, Sarah-Jade Bleau, Joyce Tanner, and Addison Rae dominate TikTok’s influencer ranks. Predictably, Jenner leads all influencers in total engagement with branded posts at more than 45M, trailed by Charli D’Amelio with just over 31M. Since we took a look at the D’Amelio twins last year, Charli’s total brand partnerships have grown 145% to 22–15 of which are on TikTok, where her following has increased 12% to north of 150M.

The Consumer Products category engaged 1B people across all social platforms in the last 12 months–a staggering statistic that’s almost certain to continue to rise. Let’s take a closer look at this all-important category that arguably touches more people worldwide than any other.

With over 100 sponsorship deals, Clorox tops the list of the more than 2,650 active brands buying sponsorship or media. Gillette takes the second spot with over 85 sponsorships, followed by Manscaped in third place with north of 50 sponsorship deals. YETI, L’Oreal, Degree, Dove, Old Spice, Dawn, and 3M round out the top 10.

Social posts were the most common asset bundled into Consumer Products sponsorship deals, which averaged engagement of 170K each. The category saw more than 5.4K brand collaborations and 31K unique posts in the last year.

Property entitlements and digital content ranked second and third among most popular assets. More than 25 brands have purchased a uniform exposure asset across European Football and Major Pro Sports in the US–the most frequent being a primary and practice jersey patch, followed by a secondary jersey logo.

Within Major Pro Sports, the Cincinnati Reds and FC Cincinnati partner with the most Consumer Products sponsors (more than 10 each)–not surprising, given that Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest fast-moving consumer goods company, has been headquartered in Cincinnati since its founding there in 1837. Both teams have deals with P&G marquee brands Bounty, Charmin, Crest, and Gillette.

At the collegiate level, Ovation Fragrance inked an NIL deal with Michigan State defensive back Dillon Tatum deal last month–marking the brand’s entrée into the red-hot NIL industry. In other January news, YETI became the Official Drinkware and Cooler of the World Surf League. Currently fourth among Consumer Products brands with more than 45 deals, the ubiquitous drinkware brand is looking to make more waves in the sponsorship space.

The National Football League will have its first-ever Christmas Day tripleheader this year.

Take a look at how the competing team's social game and sponsorship portfolio compare.

The 2022/23 NBA season–the league’s 77th–tipped off on Tuesday with a marquee doubleheader. As fans gear up for a slew of exciting match-ups over the next six months, here’s a glimpse at how the league’s teams and players fared on social media during the offseason.

NBA teams stayed active with 3,187 sponsored posts across 366 deals since mid-June, engaging over 18.7M followers–an average of 51K per deal and 5.6K per post.

Top 5 offseason posts (by total engagement):

1. Bibigo x LA Lakers - 526K

1. UCLA Mattel Children's x LA Lakers - 514K

1. Rakuten x Golden State Warriors - 333K

1. Oracle x Golden State Warriors - 227K

1. Coinbase x Chicago Bulls - 197K

The Lakers and the Warriors dominated social media during their time off, generating a combined 42% of the NBA's total engagement. The Lakers accounted for 20%, engaging 3.7M fans across 103 posts–40 of which were with Korean food company Bibigo, the team’s jersey patch sponsor. Five of the NBA’s 10 most engaging posts were Lakers’ branded posts, 3 of which were with Bibigo.

Engaging 4.1M followers across 291 posts–192 with Oracle–the Warriors were responsible for 22% of the NBA’s social engagement since last season ended. The team averaged engagement of 415K per brand, eclipsing the Lakers’ 234K per partner. The Warriors’ offseason social activity with Oracle amassed over 1M more engagements than any other NBA partnership, due in large part to its plethora of posts.

NBA players were also busy on social media during the offseason, as Lebron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo proved why they’re among the four highest paid players in the league.

Top 5 NBA player offseason posts (by total engagement):

1. Lobos 1707 Tequila x Lebron James - 1.8M

1. Sports Illustrated x Lebron James - 1.121M

1. Brown & Brown Custom Clothiers x Giannis Antetokounmpo - 1.118M

1. Zion Williamson x Jordan Brand - 585K

1. RIMOWA x Lebron James - 579K

Athletes with supersize social media clout naturally command much bigger deals. Here are the NBA giants with the highest-earning endorsement portfolios, and some of their deep-pocketed brand partners.

Estimated NBA athlete endorsement portfolio earnings (Source: Sportico)

1. Lebron James - est. $75M
3. Cypto.com, GMC, Ruffles

1. Kevin Durant - est. $48M
3. NBA Top Shop, Weemaps, Nike

1. Steph Curry - est. $45M
3. Rakuten, FTX, Literati

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo - est. $44M
3. WhatsApp, Nike, Breitling

1. Russell Westbrook - est. $25M
3. Jordan Brand, Converse, Varo

DOWNLOAD REPORT HERE

Congratulations to Karim Benzema and Alexia Putellas, the winners of this year’s Ballon d’Or (“Golden Ball”) Award, presented in Paris on October 17th. Nominees for the annual award recognizing the best player over the previous year–presented by French news magazine French Football since 1956–included 30 men’s and 20 women’s football players from around the world.

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema–nicknamed “Karim the Dream”–was the favorite after winning the UEFA Nations League with France, the LaLiga title, the Spain Supercup, and the Champions League with Real Madrid, as well as the 2021/2022 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year. With 120M total followers, Benzema was the second most-followed Ballon d’Or nominee this year on social media. His partnerships with 6 brands–including adidas, Jean Paul Gaultier, Technogym, and Crypto.com–have generated 16M engagements and counting.

Alexia Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or Award for the second consecutive year, becoming the first female player to win the title twice. Her elite run has boosted her social following a whopping 330% year-over-year to 3M across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. The FC Barcelona midfielder takes the 5th spot among both male and female Ballon d’Or nominees in terms of brand partnerships, garnering more than 2.4M engagements across 18 branded posts.

With a staggering following of more than 740M, nominee Cristiano Ronaldo is the most popular person in the world on social media. He also leads the nominees in brand partnerships with 17, including LiveScore, Nike, Clear (Unilever), and CR7, his own underwear brand. With 18 nominations during his career–the most of any player–the Portuguese megastar has won 5 Ballon d’Or trophies, a feat surpassed only by Lionel Messi with 7 awards.

Alex Morgan tops the list of female players on social media with an audience of more than 20M–ranking her 15th among all Ballon d’Or nominees by total followers. With 27 deals, the San Diego Wave striker also partners with more brands than any other female athlete. Morgan’s most engaging branded post–on Instagram with Beat Everybody, the clothing brand she cofounded with fellow US Women’s National Soccer Team players Allie Long and Kelley O’Hara–has racked up 293K engagements since January.

The AFC West matchup tonight between two potential Super Bowl contenders–the Los Angeles Chargers at the Kansas City Chiefs–features a slew of players who have taken advantage of the teams’ success by locking in endorsement deals.

KC Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster has the most deals of any player in this game with 24. An avid online gamer, he partners with HyperX and Nerd Street Games, and has secured other deals thanks to his skyrocketing fame on TikTok, where his followers total more than 3M. JuJu’s branded posts on the platform include SoFi, HyperIce, Yahoo Sports, Snickers, and 7-Eleven.

LA Chargers star running back Austin Ekeler literally leads the charge for his team with more than 20 partnerships, among them SteelSeries, American Airlines, Shock Doctor, and Sleep Number. He’s leveraging his burgeoning social following–which has grown more than 70% since 2021–by posting about each partner brand, with posts and engagement totaling 81 and over 560K, respectively.

Notably, 5 of Ekeler’s sponsors also have deals with players on the Chiefs:

• Sleep Number: Clyde Edwards-Helaire

• Chipotle: George Karlaftis

• Verizon & Bud Light: Juju Smith-Schuster

• StateFarm: Patrick Mahomes

Meanwhile, chances are top-tier quarterback talents Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert will be facing off for many years to come, both on the field and in the sponsorship arena.

Mahomes’ 8M+-strong social following dwarfs third-year starting QB Herbert’s 500K–though Herbert’s star continues to rise, as evidenced by his following’s 55% increase this past year. And while Mahomes has more deals, his average engagement rate of 1.1% is a mere fraction of Herbert’s, which stuns at a whopping 9.86%.

Both Mahomes and Herbert have deals with Bose, which saw its highest total engagement on social media with the star quarterbacks this year. Mahomes' top post with the audio giant, on January 27th, totaled over 330K likes/comments on Instagram, while Herbert's January 8th Instagram post engaged more than 100K followers. Bose made noise on social media during the 2021-22 NFL playoffs, posting more than 10 times with participating players.

SponsorUnited’s inaugural Music Artist Report, released yesterday, delivers an in-depth analysis of over 2,100 brands and 1,100 deals from July 2021-July 2022, unlocking 10 major music genres and telling the stories of nearly 600 artists.

Here’s a peek at some of the report’s key insights:

Country music’s most popular performers have attracted the most eyeballs across the SponsorUnited platform.

In addition, Country stars average more deals per artist than any other genre, with the number of brands partnering with them rising 45% since 2020.

Their seemingly unstoppable momentum continues: Over 35% of SponsorUnited searches among music artists were Country, with Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, and George Strait ranking among the top five most searched artists.

Music artists are betting big on their own brands—and winning.

Of the top 50 most engaging brands, those owned by artists garnered the most attention.Four of the top five brands with the highest social engagement were beauty brands owned by superstars:

• Rare Beauty (Selena Gomez)

• JLO Beauty (Jennifer Lopez)

• r.e.m. beauty (Ariana Grande)

• Savage x Fenty (Rihanna)

Music moves fans like no other league, team or property can.

Not surprisingly, artists' success on social media plays a key role in driving performance of their brands. When comparing per-post engagement among a variety of property types, musicians top the leaderboard with an average engagement per post of 137K, versus 100K for general celebrities in the second-place spot.

Artist-owned companies are expanding into new categories.

While music artists have long added value to Cosmetics, Clothing and Alcohol brands, artists like Timbaland, Kanye West and Dua Lipa are already charting the future of artist ownership in new categories:

• Timbaland x Beatclub: The innovative digital platform aims to revolutionize the way music makers connect.

• Kanye West x Donda Sports: Kanye's sports marketing agency now includes clients like NBA star Jaylen Brown and NFL standout Aaron Donald.

• Dua Lipa x Service95: Dua Lipa released her first weekly lifestyle newsletter in February 2022.

Latin artists see massive growth from global music fans.

Among the top 40 fastest growing social accounts, 12 were owned by Latin artists. Combined, these artists gained over 250M followers–2.5x more than Rap/Hip-Hop and 3.5x more than Country, and second only to Pop. With Latin music's total revenue projected at over $1B this year, expect to see US brands continue to team up with these red-hot performers.

Case in point: Bad Bunny, Spotify's most streamed artist globally in 2020 and 2021. During his El Último Tour Del Mundo this year, he partnered with Airbnb to open the doors to his truck for three one-night stays for two guests at just $91 per night—a nod to his record-breaking 9.1B Spotify streams in 2021. Guests had the exclusive opportunity to explore Bad Bunny’s past, present and future, both on and off the stage.

Nick Kyrgios won Washington’s 2022 Citi Open, his second Citi Open championship in just over three years.

Citi was the title sponsor for this event. Host sponsors included Kastle Systems, Events DC, CityRidge, Emirates and Tennis Channel.

The National Football League (NFL) is back with the first pre-season game of the 2022-23 season taking place tonight.

Which social media partnerships this offseason were the most successful ranked by average engagement per post? Swipe below to find out!

The 2022 NFL offseason has provided prime opportunities for brands keen to raise their social media profile since the NFL Free agency began in March. With the preseason kicking off tonight, let’s break down the engagement numbers.

Since March 1, more than 650 deals have been promoted on social channels across the league and its teams, totaling north of 6,400 posts thus far. With an average of 10 posts per brand, total engagement (likes, shares, or comments) across all deals tops 17.5 million, or just over 25,000 engagements per deal.

Not surprisingly, the two leading social media partnerships were with last season’s Super Bowl rivals, the LA Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. The fact that Rams posts took four of the top 10 slots by average engagement underscores the offseason benefits reaped by brands partnering with Super Bowl champions.

The Rams also top the list of brand deals with a 3-post minimum. The team’s partnership with Nike has tallied more than 45,000 average engagements across 7 posts, for a total of more than 315,000 followers.

Lesser-known companies like Swift Meats also were able to garner exceptional exposure in their deals with the Bengals. With 8 posts overall–which showcased the new “White Bengal” helmet, debuting this year–Swift Meat’s total engagement stands at 250,000, an average of just over 31,000 per post.

Rounding out the top 5 most successful social media partnerships from the Draft through July 31st were the Atlanta Falcons and Coca-Cola, the New York Giants and Invisalign, and the Denver Broncos and Chevron, respectively. With a minimum of 3 posts, each saw per-post engagement of more than 20,000 followers.

Social media’s power as a brand-building tool is indisputable–especially in the music industry. According to SponsorUnited’s latest data, 29 recording artists have at least 100 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook–accounting for a whopping 6.2 billion cumulative follows.

Selena Gomez tops the list with nearly 525 million followers. Despite her staggering fan base, her 6 endorsement deals pale in comparison to Snoop Dogg (160+ million followers), whose singular charisma has helped him ink 17 partnerships. He starred in Super Bowl commercials for BIC and Pepsi last February, while his February 23rd Instagram post with another partner, Crooks & Castles Clothing, engaged 1.2 million followers–topping his long list of branded social posts.

Katy Perry cracks the top-five in both social followers and endorsement deals. Sixteen brands have leveraged Perry’s social media following over the last 12 months, totaling more than 100 posts, while her total engagement is an impressive 17.8 million, with an average 1.1 million followers per brand. Her January 2nd Instagram post with Resorts World Las Vegas netted 890K engagements, her highest-ever tally on the channel.

Latin music artist J Balvin takes the third spot on the endorsement list behind Perry, with 15 deals and a social following of 110 million. His customized-shoe partnership with Jordan Brand spurred a huge pop on his social media page with an engagement of over 1.5 million–more than 10% of his total engagement across 46 posts. Fortnite is Balvin’s most-promoted brand on social media by number of posts: his 10 with the online game have a total engagement of 3.5 million.

Partnering with influencers on leading social media platforms has become a strategic way for brands to build equity and reach completely new audiences. As Cara Stucker, SponsorUnited’s senior manager of endorsements, explains, “The thing about influencer marketing is, all brands can do it. Working with influencers allows brands extreme flexibility–whatever the budget, target audience, campaign length or type of media, influencers will make it happen.”

UPDATE: Earlier today, news broke of a new partnership with Khaby Lame. Binance has signed Lame as their newest brand ambassador to grow the Binance ecosystem leveraging the power of Lame's social media. Binance announced the partnership via their Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Here’s the list of top influencers (by number of followers) tracked in the SponsorUnited database, and their top three brand deals across all social media channels.

TikTok:

1. Khaby Lame - 144.4MHugo Boss, Amazon Prime Student, Disney

2. Charli D’Amelio - 142.8MStep, Morphe, Takis

3. Bella Poarch - 90.3MCash App, Moncler, HyperX

4. Addison Rae - 88.1MITEM Beauty, American Eagle Outfitters, Vital Proteins

5. Zach King - 68.8MCredit Karma, Amazon, Google (Alphabet)

Instagram:

1. Khaby Lame - 78.4M

2. Larissa Machado (Anitta) - 62.7M

adidas, Samsung, Sol de Janeiro

3. Whindersson Nunes - 58.5MSubway

4. Huda Kattan - 50.6MASOS, Sephora, Harrod’s

5. Lele Pons - 49MAdore Me, PUBG

Twitter:

1. Whindersson Nunes - 25.4M

2. Ruben ‘El Rubius’ Doblas - 19.3MMAmazon Prime Student, Paco Rabanne, Drift Gaming

3. AuronPlay (Raul Alvarez) - 15.9MFanta, LG Electronics, Amazon Prime Video

4. Cameron Dallas - 14.8MboohooMan, Ralph Lauren, Crypto Demonz

5. Felipe Neto - 14.5MN/A

Facebook:

1. Noel Arevalo - 74.7MInno Supps, Fashion Nova

2. Alexandra Mary Hirschi (Supercar Blondie) - 47MVinFast, Driver Ape Racing Club, Xbox

3. Dhar Mann- 28MN/A

4. Kayla Itsines - 28Msweat, iFit, P.E. Nation

5. Luisito Comunica - 23MRey Palomo, Gran Malo, Deigo CDMX

*The nine categories considered when pulling data: beauty/fashion, fitness, food/travel, kids/family, pet, reality tv, tech/science, esports, and other social media influencers.

On the field, there is little Jocelyn Alo can't do. She is a 2x Women's College World Series champion, 3x First Team All-American, all-time NCAA home run leader and #1 overall pick in the 2022 WPF Inaugural College Draft.

To celebrate World Softball Day, let's take a look at her NIL and social game.

This year, the 16 NBA playoff teams saw a 12.5% increase in social media followers while non-playoff teams saw a 5% growth. Is this due to more time in the limelight or because their markets are home to the best players in the league?

Of the eight Eastern Conference playoff teams, the Chicago Bulls rank highest in the NBA in terms of social media followers, with nearly 30M and ranked #4 in the league. Interesting to note that of the eight teams, five rank #1 in their market in terms of social followers.

With superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, the Brooklyn Nets have the highest average engagement rate per post while the Boston Celtics have the highest total engagement. As defending champions, the Milwaukee Bucks have the most social deals, 55 unique brands to be exact. While the Atlanta Hawks have less social deals but the highest number of branded posts, with over 2,300 already this season..

Now onto the Western Conference teams. Four of the eight teams rank #1 in social media followers in their market while all eight teams are at least top three in their respective markets. To no surprise,, the Golden State Warriors rank highest amongst the crew in social follower rank within the NBA landing at #3. The Utah Jazz had the highest YoY growth with a 29% increase.

The Warriors take the title for having the highest average engagement rate as well as total engagement of over 50M. This separates them from the pack by a landslide, the Mavericks come in 2nd with a total engagement of just over 8M.

Over the last two years, it’s no shock there has been a rise in family social media accounts and family social media influencers. This goes for those who want to stay in touch, to those who want to rake in the deals. Four semi-known families have managed to turn their family social media accounts into a semi-empire (and no, we’re not talking about the Kardashians’). The Royalty Family, The Holderness Family, The Bee Family and The Bee Family have all established a name for themselves in the Family Influencer space.

Which brands have leveraged these families' followers?

With 2.1M followers between their Tiktok and Instagram, the Royalty Family utilizes their 17.1M subscribers to showcase their 11 brands deals including notable deals with Chime, Staples and Centrum.

Coming off being crowned the winners of Season 33 of the Amazing Race, the Holderness Family features nine brand deals showcased across their five social media platforms with over 6.5M followers. Some of their more notable deals include AT&T, King’s Hawaiian and Great Clips.

With the most combined followers of the group, the LaBrant Family has over 50M followers across their five social media platforms. With eight brand deals including King’s Hawaiian, Cash App and SHEIN.

Lastly, the Bee Family has secured five brand deals to their 32M followers across five social media platforms. Some of the most notable brands include Welch’s, Kraft Heinz and Team Seas.

These four families have quickly gained popularity over the last two years and enjoyed increased followers and brand deals over this time. As the rest of the year plays out, the family influencer space will be one to monitor for an increase in followers and brand deals.

Checkout some of the brands they partner with and how they leverage brand deals across their social media platforms.

The final round of the FA Cup took place this weekend as Liverpool defeated Chelsea in a penalty shootout.

We compare the social media presence and deals of Chelsea striker, Romelu Lukaku, with Liverpool defender, Trent Alexander-Arnold.

On Thursday May 12th the world celebrated International Nurses Day. A day filled with gratitude toward a profession which has been working tirelessly over the last few years. During the Pandemic, there was a massive uptick in nurses taking to social media to share their stories and shed light on their heroing industry.

Miki Rai, a nurse, now nurse and social media influencer, has secured over 10 deals and has over 2.1M followers across Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. This nurse's quick rise to fame has opened the door for unique categories (in particular healthcare brands) to leverage social media like never before.

Rai has endorsed popular healthcare brands including Vicks, Lubriderm, and Unisom. Rai also works with brands to help encourage and educate the next generation of Nurses. Rai alongside the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and BoardVitals are using her social media presence to help raise awareness for various health issues and help walk prospective nurses on the process of the board exams.

Overall in the healthcare space, BetterHealth leads the way with 60 sponsorship deals. 82% of the sponsorship deals come in the podcast industry with influencers coming in 2nd with nine sponsorship deals. Invisalign comes in second with 49 total deals. 25 of those deals come from the NFL with 10 deals with teams, one with the league, and 14 with NFL Athletes.

Next on the list is Kaiser Permanente which has 39 deals including deals within four of the top five Pro Sports leagues. AdventHealth, Florida Hospital, comes in 4th on the list with 25 sponsor deals spread across various leagues and the state of Florida. Lastly, American Medical Response comes in 5th with 25 deals. These deals are spread across multiple sports teams and leagues including three Buffalo based teams with the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Bulls and Rochester Americans.

Mexico-based brand, Banorte , led all Finance brands with the highest average engagement per post: 262,354.

Download the SponsorUnited ’21-‘22 Marketing Partnership Finance Report now at https://hubs.la/Q0195gFd0 for more insights.

International superstar Shohei Ohtani has garnered an impressive 188% increase in social followers YoY. That has translated into signing more than 10 endorsements with brands globally. How does that compare to teammate Mike Trout? Trout’s social following has only grown 2% over the past year but it has not slowed down the amount of deals he has which are in the double digits.

How does this compare to other star players around the league?

Signing mega deals for a player's “performance” has not always meant endorsement deals off the field. Two examples of this are Max Scherzer & Gerrit Cole who are the two highest paid pitchers in baseball. Each player totals only two deals, both have a deal with Rawlings, while Scherzer has a deal with Indeed and Cole with Nike. Notably, both of these players are not as active on social media as some other star players having under 1 million followers each.

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper comes to mind when thinking about players like Trout having more than five endorsements off the field while signing big contracts for his game play. Harper has over 2 million followers on social media that his brand partners like Dairy Queen, Gatorade & Fanatics leverage. Harper's followers average a 4% engagement rate on his social posts totalling over 380k engagements, the most of the five athletes mentioned. Ohtani leads the group with 11 total deals and highest

According to an analysis of over 30,000 brands spending on endorsements or sponsorship/media campaigns, each of the “Power 5” platforms represents a unique characterization. For example, Consumer Products is the most active category on TikTok, while not cracking the top five on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

This past year, we tracked over 30,000 brands buying endorsements or sponsorship/media campaigns that included social media. We found that the Alcohol category had the most sponsored posts in Major Pro Sports, led by Bud Light and Michelob Ultra. The most engaging post in Major Pro Sports was Bibigo’s jersey patch announcement with the Los Angeles Lakers, which saw an engagement score of 1,056,188. The New England Patriots had the highest engaging TikTok post–a sponsored video partnering with apparel company Stitch.

A major decision maker when choosing TikTok for branded social posts, is to directly target a younger demographic with personable content, as 41% of the user base is made up of people ages 16-24. Manscaped is a top five brand in the consumer products category when ranked by total partnerships, and leverages TikTok through integrated videos with verified social influencers such as TooTurntTony, who’s sponsored TikTok videos with Manscaped average 386,000 engagements. Walmart leads all brands in total integrated media deals on TikTok, having 66 partnerships with a roster of celebrities and influencers to promote beauty products and fashion designs.

The Apparel & Accessories category appears in the top five categories for all social media platforms, and is led by the two apparel giants Nike and adidas. An impressive 60% of all adidas 900+ partnerships include social media content, while only 37% of Nike’s 1,600+ partnerships.

YouTube sensation 2HYPE was founded in 2019. The members have been growing their gross social following of 20+ million since early as 2014.

Checkout some of the brands they partner with and how the group leverages brand deals across their social media platforms.

Throughout the 2021 NFL season, Bose Corporation ranked #1 in total posts (with players and teams) while Lexus had the highest average engagement per post.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the release of the NFL 2021 Marketing & Partnerships Annual Report.

From 2020 to 2021, here are the National Football League (NFL) teams with the largest % increase in total social following year-over-year:

5) Jacksonville Jaguars (+8%)

4) Los Angeles Rams (+9%)

2T) Kansas City Chiefs (+10%)

2T) Buffalo Bills (+10%)

1) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+22%)

Four out of the five teams above made the playoffs during this season. The Jacksonville Jaguars led in total branded posts with over 2,500 which included 95 different brands. The Kansas City Chiefs had the least amount of posts with just over 500 which only included 45 brands, but do have the highest average rate at .83% and highest total engagement over 8.5 million.

Let’s take a look at how these teams stack up in terms of sponsorship deals:

5) Kansas City Chiefs

4) Los Angeles Rams

3)Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2) Buffalo Bills

1) Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars not only are the top team on this list, but according to SponsorUnited data, they have the most sponsors in the NFL by over 40 brands more than the Indianapolis Colts who come in second with 136 deals followed by the Dallas Cowboys with 128. Ranked by sponsorship assets, the venue naming rights partner for the Jags, TIAA Bank, is tied with Dream Finders Homes for being the most active sponsor with the team.

This past week, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first person ever to pass 400 million followers on Instagram. Over the 18 years that Ronaldo has been playing professional soccer, he has been able to create a following around the world. Adding in Twitter, Facebook and TikTok, Ronaldo has well over 500 million followers across all social media platforms.

Taking advantage and leveraging his massive following are 20 brands currently within 13 categories. Ronaldo has an apparel deal with Nike which has posted his highest engagement score on social media of over 12.5 million. Other brands Ronaldo has partnered with include Altice, Herbalife, Therabody and Crunch Fitness. Interesting to note that the brands partnered with Ronaldo have headquarters not only in Europe where he plays soccer but also in other countries around the world as he is a global sensation.

The MLS has had a strong rise recently as the league saw a 40% increase in brands buying sponsorship or media from 2019. Although on the rise, the social media presence of some of the top athletes show the true power of being a soccer superstar around the world. Blase Matuidi, Christian Ramirez, Javier Hernandez (Chicharito) and Jonathan dos Santos each have secured over five endorsement deals ranging from apparel brands such as Nike and Puma to Modelo, BodyArmor and Quantum Energy Squares. The four athletes combined have a total Instagram following of just over 14 million which in total is just 3% of the entire following of Cristiano Ronaldo. The top 25 MLS athletes account for only 6% of Ronaldo’s 400 million.

Trending NFL teams and players with the largest social follower gain in the month of January:

10) Green Bay Packers (+84,758)

9) Marcedes Lewis (+85,180)

8) Pittsburgh Steelers (+96,982)

7) San Francisco 49ers (+101,041)

6) Kansas City Chiefs (+103,943)

5) Dallas Cowboys (+120,933)

4) Cincinnati Bengals (+128,556)

3) Tom Brady (+184,022)

2) Odell Beckham Jr. (+343,053)

1) Antonio Brown (+961,136)

On a related note, Brown actually picked up more followers than the NFL league social accounts (+961k vs +921k).

The term "Any Press is Good Press" rang true during the month of January in the NFL. Antonio Brown quit on the Buccaneers mid-game, then saw the largest growth in social media followers. Brown currently optimizes his social media following partnering with six brands, three within the apparel and accessories category. He has also entered the NFT space with Spooky Boys Country Club. Brown's highest engaged post comes on Instagram with Skeleton Concept having an engagement score of over 130,000 per the SponsorUnited platform.

Interesting to see that within the top four of the list, two social media accounts will be represented in the Super Bowl, Odell Beckham Jr. of the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals accounts. The 13 brands that OBJ has a partnership with leverage his nearly 20 million followers across social media. Recently, OBJ signed a deal with Cash App in which he'll get paid in Bitcoin during his tenure with the Rams. He can also be seen promoting the app with a $1 Million giveaway.

FC Barcelona has the highest average engagement per tech branded post over any other property. Leveraging brands like Estrella Damm, Gatorade, and Beko Global across their social media channels FC Barcelona has a total gross social following of 261M. Other international football teams and leagues with the highest engagement on social media include Real Madrid C.F., Chelsea Football Club, and The Premier League.

In an article published by Forbes earlier this month, the two top earning TikTok influencers in 2021 came from the same family. Charli D’Amelio took the #1 spot with 134M followers earning nearly $18M and older sister Dixie D’Amelio has 57M followers earning just about $10M over the course of last year earning her the #2 spot.

Reported by SponsorUnited own data, Charli has partnerships with 10 brands including Dunkin, Cerave, Takis, and Simmons Sleep. Utilizing not only TikTok, Charli posts here endorsements on all of her social media channels including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram brining her total following to nearly 200 million overall. Rather than having static images for her endorsement deals, Charli creates TikTok videos which incorporate her partners into them, most notably with Dunkin’ and Takis.

Simmons Sleep tapped into both of the D’Amelio sisters followers partnering with both influencers providing their fans the opportunity for a bedroom makeover. Dixie has 9 deals, one less than her sister while partnering with higher end brands such as Versace and Valentino. These partnerships differ from her younger sis, as they are more centered around a "high-end photoshoot" v.s the videos created by her sister. With Dixie approaching the age of 21 later this summer, makes us wonder what other brands will leverage the her massive social following of over 86M.

The NFL playoffs are here after the first 17-game regular season. Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills will host rookie Mac Jones and the New England Patriots on the CBS Saturday Primetime spot for NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend.

Josh Allen leads the QB matchup on the field as his team won the AFC East and also off the field in total social followers and total partnerships. Working with 14 brands across 12 categories during the 2021-22 season, Allen has notable deals with West Herr, Buffalo Wild Wings and Labatt Blue.

Mac Jones comes in slightly behind Allen with 11 total deals and 70k less social followers. Jones was part of the Bose NFL Draft 2021 campaign which featured the five rookie QB’s selected in the first round including Zach Wilson and #1 Draft pick Trevor Lawrence. Following in former Patriot QB Tom Brady’s footsteps will be no easy feat, but Mac Jones is on his way after a stellar start on and off the field his rookie year.

The players with the most deals in the NFL are Rob Gronkowski and JuJu Smith-Schuster, both have 29 total deals. Gronkowsi has nearly 10 million followers on social media giving his brand partners like Bud Light, Hims & Hers and Hisense tons of visibility. Juju Smith-Schuster, who is known to be a gamer, has over 257,000 followers on Twitch and has deals with tech brands like HyperX, HP, & Microsoft Surface.

Over 890 brands have signed an endorsement deals with a NFL player this season. Adidas leads the way in terms of total deals while Verizon is a close second followed by Nike. On average, each player in the league signed a total of four deals while each brand has an average of three. 77% of all deals include a social media post as brands look to leverage the athletes platforms to attract fans towards their campaigns.

July 2021 was a big month for college athletes. They were granted the ability to sign endorsement deals as part of the new NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) Law that was passed. NIL Endorsement deals gives student athletes the opportunity to begin making money while playing sports in college.

Apparel & Accessory brands took immediate advantage of this opportunity leading the way in total deals with college athletes. Many would assume this means Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour were signing many of these deals. Instead it was emerging brands like Rhoback, PSD Underwear, and Fanjoy which lead the way with the most endorsement deals in the Apparel & Accessory category.

More than 350 brands have signed NIL deals with college athletes. Raising Cane’s is at the top of the list. FTX follows right behind with over 10 deals in the NIL space.

Heading into tonight’s College Football Championship, here are the top four players who have signed the most deals between the two teams this season. Heisman Trophy winner and Alabama star QB, Bryce Young, has the highest social following of the four athletes. It was reported by Alabama head coach, Nick Saban, that Young was making near 7-figures in NIL deals before throwing his first pass this season. Will more brands moving forward take a shot on athletes prior to the season after seeing the success of Bryce Young?