Social Media: Future Challenges for Premier League Clubs

The launch of the Premier League in 1992 was undoubtedly a landmark moment in the history of professional football.

Initially marketed as ‘a whole new ball game’, the league has subsequently become a global brand that dwarfs other domestic football competitions.

This point is hammered home on social media, with the Premier League’s 20 clubs collectively boasting 904 million followers on their primary channels.

Of the ‘big five’ leagues in Europe, only La Liga comes anywhere near the Premier League in terms of popularity on social media.

The 20 clubs in the Spanish top flight have 836m followers between – a tally that is miles clear of the collective totals in Serie A, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga.

However, while the Premier League collectively has the upper hand over La Liga in the social media stakes, research by Total Sports highlights an interesting point at club level.

Manchester United have the largest following on social media in the EPL across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

The Red Devils have racked up more than 212m followers to demonstrate their appeal to football fans around the world.

While United’s total is impressive, it is put firmly in the shade by the tally of more than 357m social media followers garnered by Real Madrid.

Barcelona also put the Premier League giants to shame having amassed a whopping 329m followers on the five social media platforms studied.

Despite lagging behind Spain’s big two on social, United can console themselves with the fact they are the most popular club in the Premier League by a considerable difference.

Chelsea are their nearest pursuers with 138.6 followers, closely followed by Manchester City (138.4m) and Liverpool (135.8m).

Given the collective following they have accrued on social, the platforms have clearly played an integral role in tapping into the Premier League’s worldwide appeal.

Previous research into Man United’s global fanbase highlighted that around half live in the Asia Pacific Region, while another 25% are located in the Middle East and Africa.

This has made the club a hugely attractive proposition for big brands, who are eager to tap into the captive audience United have built on social.

By targeting social content to boost engagement, Man United have been able to successfully leverage commercial opportunities at a challenging time for the sports industry.

The club recently reported a 22.2% year-on-year increase in commercial revenue to $97.5m to demonstrate their appeal to advertisers and sponsors.

While the figure is impressive, Man United and other professional football clubs must be mindful of the ever-evolving nature of social media.

Uncertainty over the future of Twitter is a primary concern, with owner Elon Musk hellbent on implanting unnecessary changes to the popular platform.

With that in mind, clubs across the world may be forced to look at what alternatives such as Threads, BlueSky and Mastodon have to offer.

Fostering relationships with the Gen Z demographic is another issue clubs must address to ensure they ‘future-proof’ their operations.

With some studies suggesting they are less interested in traditional sports than their predecessors, clubs cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

Links with the associated eSports sector will become increasingly important, while social activism and diversity are buzzwords football can ill-afford to ignore.

By forging meaningful links with the next generation of fans via social platforms, clubs will give themselves the best opportunity to continue growing.

Players must also play their part by engaging directly with fans on social – preferably without the help of social media managers.

The Premier League’s huge collective following has not been built by accident – the challenge now is retaining those levels and adding more cherries on top of the cake.