The Social Scoreboard

Which Sports Leagues Dominate Instagram in 2025?

Author

Samuel Rogers
December 09, 2025

Forget TV ratings.
The real battle for fan attention is fought on social media feeds, not broadcast screens.

Boardroom’s latest data on Instagram followers paints a crystal-clear picture of who’s winning — and who’s fading fast — in the digital era of sports.

📊 The Rankings: Most Followed Sports Leagues on Instagram (as of Sept 30)

Rank

League

Followers

1️⃣

NBA

90.6M

2️⃣

Premier League (EPL)

78.8M

3️⃣

UFC

48.9M

4️⃣

Formula 1 (F1)

38.4M

5️⃣

WWE

35.3M

6️⃣

NFL

31.8M

7️⃣

MLB

12.6M

8️⃣

NHL

6.9M

9️⃣

PGA Tour

5.7M

🔟

MLS

5.1M

📈 Blunt Breakdown

🏀 1. NBA — The Global Blueprint

  • 90.6M followers, comfortably at the top.

  • The NBA isn’t just a league — it’s a global lifestyle brand.

  • Content that blends highlights, fashion, culture, and personality.

  • Star power drives virality: LeBron, Curry, Wemby, Luka, Giannis.

  • Strategic focus on short-form, global, player-first storytelling keeps it dominant.

🔹 Insight: The NBA’s brand transcends borders — its content engine runs like a media company, not a league.

⚽️ 2. Premier League — The Global Game’s Global League

  • 78.8M followers — second only to the NBA.

  • Its international footprint spans 200+ territories, broadcast in 20+ languages.

  • Fan culture fuels engagement — matchday content and global club rivalries (City, Arsenal, Liverpool, United) amplify reach.

🔹 Insight: EPL’s digital empire thrives on global tribalism — every post feels like a rivalry.

🥊 3. UFC — Combat Sports’ Digital Titan

  • 48.9M followers — outperforming older, larger leagues.

  • Fueled by viral moments, knockouts, and characters (McGregor, Khabib, O’Malley).

  • Short clips dominate — perfect for the algorithm.

🔹 Insight: The UFC is built for the scroll. One punch. One clip. Millions of impressions.

🏎 4. Formula 1 — The Netflix Effect in Motion

  • 38.4M followers — and still accelerating.

  • Drive to Survive turned drivers into characters and fans into global investors.

  • Explosive U.S. growth through content, not commercials.

🔹 Insight: F1 monetized attention by turning engineering into entertainment.

🤼 5. WWE — Where Storytelling Never Retires

  • 35.3M followers, powered by nostalgia, memes, and moments.

  • Decades of storyline continuity fuel consistent engagement.

  • Crossovers with pop culture and celebrities keep content viral.

🔹 Insight: WWE’s secret weapon is narrative — it sells emotion, not just matches.

🏈 6. NFL — America’s Game, World’s Mystery

  • 31.8M followers — dominant domestically, stagnant globally.

  • Rules complexity + cultural barriers = limited international fandom.

  • Global Series games help, but digital storytelling lags NBA and EPL.

🔹 Insight: The NFL wins ratings, but loses algorithms.

⚾️ 7–10. Traditional Leagues, Digital Laggards

League

Followers

Takeaway

MLB

12.6M

Slow-paced game, slow-paced content. Needs digital rebrand.

NHL

6.9M

Loyal but regional. Viral ceiling remains low.

PGA Tour

5.7M

Conservative tone limits viral reach.

MLS

5.1M

Messi changed everything — trajectory is steeply rising.

💡 Macro Takeaways

  1. Basketball and Soccer are Global by Design.
    Fast, visual, and international — they translate perfectly to short-form content.

  2. Combat + Entertainment = Viral Gold.
    UFC and WWE show that controversy, emotion, and raw moments outperform tradition.

  3. Traditional Leagues Are Losing the Feed War.
    MLB, NHL, and PGA lack personality-driven storytelling — the modern fan doesn’t just watch; they follow.

  4. Digital Globalization is the Real Game.
    The NBA, EPL, and F1 aren’t just leagues — they’re content ecosystems.

🧩 The Blunt Insight

The scoreboard has moved from arenas to algorithms.
The best sports leagues today aren’t those with the biggest TV deals — they’re the ones winning attention per scroll.

The NBA and EPL built global fandoms by turning games into culture.
The UFC and F1 caught fire by turning athletes into stories.
Meanwhile, the NFL and MLB still treat Instagram like a scoreboard instead of a stage.

🩸 Men lie. Women lie. The algorithm never does.

If you want to understand where global sports fandom — and monetization — is heading, stop looking at Nielsen ratings and start watching engagement charts.

📩 Subscribe to Blunt Insights for more no-fluff, data-driven breakdowns of the sports business, strategy, and media ecosystem.

Men lie. Women lie. The numbers never do.