Fans love to follow the highs and lows of their favourite footballers. They’re equally enthusiastic about rising stars who claimed their first PayID pokies Australia no deposit bonus and won a massive jackpot, and about established players who scored another victory in the Premier League. Nobody embodies this better than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but what makes them stand above the rest? This is what our latest article is all about.
The source of Lionel Messi’s popularity
Inter Miami’s star forward boasts one of the largest fan bases in the world, with over 116 million users on Facebook and more than half a billion Instagram followers. These numbers shouldn’t surprise anyone, as the 38-year-old Argentinian is a living legend, with many considering him to be one of the greatest footballers of all time.
In 2022, the athlete won the FIFA World Cup and posted about this on his Instagram page, which resulted in the message getting a whopping 75 million likes, a record that nobody managed to break in three years. Despite his status, Messi is still a humble and down-to-earth person, which his followers have seen time and time again.
How Lionel Messi uses his social media presence
As is the case with other football stars, Messi’s Instagram and Facebook posts mainly concern his achievements, updates, and critical milestones of his professional career. Here, his fans get first-hand information about upcoming matches and Inter Miami’s victories. The only difference is that there’s rarely any behind-the-scenes footage of his training sessions.
This is because Messi prefers a more private approach to SM content. His fans seldom see any snippets of the athlete's personal moments with family and friends. The Instagram profile mostly shows pictures of Messi as part of his team during matches.
The legendary player also does brand advertising. His campaigns don’t involve urging young and impressionable followers to check out PayID pokies or live casino games. Instead, Messi uses his platforms to promote brands like Adidas, Pepsi, Huawei, and even the Fortnite video game. It’s alleged that the footballer makes $2.5 million per sponsored post.
Lionel often uses the power of social media to discuss social issues and promote various philanthropic organisations, including the Leo Messi Foundation. Its primary focus is to provide access to education, healthcare, and sports to children and adolescents.
When Lionel Messi got in hot water
The most explosive scandal occurred when the superstar was found guilty of tax fraud along with his father. The pair has secretly transferred millions of dollars to offshore accounts between 2007 and 2009. They didn’t use the funds to gamble for real money at Australian PayID pokies and instead pocketed the cash to conceal earnings from Messi’s image rights. While the Spanish court sentenced the athlete to 21 months in jail, he never served the time.
What makes millions follow Ronaldo
Unlike the Argentinian superstar’s, Cristiano Ronaldo’s approach to running social media reflects his flashy and outgoing attitude. In September of 2024, his global audience passed 1 billion, with the bulk of 664 million following the footballer via Instagram. Just like Miami’s forward, the 40-year-old Portuguese supernova is one of the most respected players of his generation, on par with Luis Suarez, Neymar, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
During his illustrious career, Ronaldo was crowned the world champion when Portugal’s team won the 2016 UEFA Euro Cup. The current captain of the Al-Nassr team has competed in five World Cups, is a five-time Champions League winner, and has achieved 5 Ballon d’Or awards. Despite his play style evolving from being quick on his feet to becoming focused on finishing moves and positioning, millions remain his loyal fans.
How Ronaldo uses his star status on social media
Ronaldo uses these platforms for career news, personal updates, communication, and promoting various brands. The majority of his posts revolve around the latest news about Cristiano’s team, individual achievements, and snippets of him celebrating the latest milestones, such as scoring 900 goals. His YouTube channel provides behind-the-scenes videos of training sessions and daily routines.
The athlete utilises social media to promote his various businesses and brands. He doesn’t run a real-money PayID pokies as part of his business empire. Instead, the footballer owns several fitness centres, hotels, and a film-production company. Just like Messi, he also posts ad content for Nike, Clear Shampoo, Louis Vuitton, and other brands as an extra source of revenue.
Finally, Cristiano Ronaldo sometimes takes the time to communicate with his followers about the importance of high performance, personal growth, and hard work. Here, football fans may also get glimpses of his personal life and family, although these are rare as Ronaldo wants to protect his children from the dangers of SM platforms.
The big Ronaldo tax evasion scandal
Footballers sometimes cut corners to keep money in their pockets and avoid paying taxes. This is also true for Portugal’s star athlete. In 2019, Ronaldo had to pay a €18.8 million fine for evading his obligations to tax collectors. Just like Messi, he managed not to spend any day of the 23-month sentence and served the term on probation, as it was his first offence in Spain. While the player was involved in several scandals during his career, this was the biggest one.
Final Thoughts
Despite the brushes with the law both Messi and Ronaldo experienced in the past, their fans don’t seem to be bothered. Every post on Instagram and Facebook instantly gets thousands of views and reactions, showing that the popularity of these legends won’t fade in the future.