After signing a contract with five-time Champions League winner Cristiano Ronaldo, the Saudi Arabian football club Al-Nassr gained as many as 9.3 million new followers on Instagram. These numbers will, of course, continue to grow, and in addition to representing enormous football potential for Al-Nassr, the acquisition also guarantees marketing revenue.
Namely, Ronaldo, with 528 million followers, is the most followed person on Instagram, and he reached the half-billion mark during December, shortly before the transfer that shocked the public. The club’s announcement that the football wizard would wear Al-Nassr’s colors received 32 million likes, and the club gained 2.5 million followers in just a few hours, an increase of 400 percent. Before the acquisition, Al-Nassr had ‘only’ 834 thousand followers, and is currently at a figure of 10.2 million.
Problems at the Start
In fact, Al-Nassr is the most popular club in the region, having surpassed its fierce rival – Al Hilal Saudi Club, which, with 3.6 million, was the most followed Saudi club on Instagram. Besides Instagram, this business move has broken records for the highest amount paid for a player.
