The Top 10 Highest-Earning Athletes On Instagram During Lockdown

Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest-earning athlete in lockdown, after making nearly £1.9 million through Instagram.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is the highest-earning star on the social media platform, where he had 219 million followers at the time of the research.

According to a study from Attain, who estimate every follower to be worth £0.00313, Ronaldo has had four sponsored posts in quarantine and made £470,584 for each one between March 12 and May 14 - underlying his innate marketability.

Long-time rival Lionel Messi is in second after making roughly £1.3 million, with PSG's Neymar collecting just short of £1.2 million from his four sponsored posts.

There's further football presence down the list from David Beckham (£405,000), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£184,000) and Dani Alves (£133,000).

Image: PA

Basketball stars Shaquille O'Neal (£584,000) and Dwyane Wade (£143,000) are in fourth and eighth respectively, Indian cricket legend Virat Kohli (£379,000) - while Anthony Joshua completes the list after making £121,000 from five sponsored posts in the last couple of months.

Image: PA

Here is the full list, as per the Daily Mail.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo - £1,882,336

Followers: 219,000,000, Earnings per post: £470,584, Sponsored posts: 4

2. Lionel Messi - £1,299,373

Followers: 151,000,000, Earnings per post: £324,843, Sponsored posts: 4

3. Neymar - £1,192,211

Followers: 138,000,000, Earnings per post: £298,053, Sponsored posts: 4

4. Shaquille O'Neal - £583,628

Followers: 17,000,000, Earnings per post: £36,477, Sponsored posts: 16

5. David Beckham - £405,359

Followers: 62,900,000, Earnings per post: £135,120, Sponsored posts: 3

6. Virat Kohli - £379,294

Followers: 59,000,000, Earnings per post: £126,431, Sponsored posts: 3

7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic - £184,413

Followers: 42,900,000, Earnings per post: £92,206, Sponsored posts: 2

8. Dwyane Wade - £143,146

Followers: 16,600,000, Earnings per post: £35,787, Sponsored posts: 4

9. Dani Alves - £133,694

Followers: 31,100,000, Earnings per post: £66,847, Sponsored posts: 2

10. Anthony Joshua - £121,500

Followers: 11,300,000, Earnings per post: £24,300, Sponsored posts: 5

Topics: Dani Alves, Football News, Football, David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Lionel Messi, Anthony Joshua, Cristiano Ronaldo

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

@https://twitter.com/JoshLawless_