Last updated on September 30th, 2021 at 08:54 PM
The Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, with a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people,but which teams are capturing the public’s attention the most and whohas the happiest fans?
Currys PC Worldexplored the world oftheonlinefootball fandom to reveal whichPremier Leagueteamsand playersare fan favourites,and which arethetargetofthe most ridicule.
The most popular Premier Leagueteams and players online
- New signing,Cristiano Ronaldoisby farthe most-searched-for playerinthe Premier League, receiving4.1 millionsearches per month
- Combining the search figures for all individual players of each Premier League squad, Manchester United has the highest total search volume(9.4millionper month)
- Brentford FCand Brighton & Hove Albionare the least-searched-for Premier League teams, receiving a respective195k and 153k searchesper month
| Top 10 most-searched-for Premier League Teams | |||
| Rank | Football club | Global search volume (monthly) | Most-searched-for player |
| 1 | Liverpool | 18,000,000 | Mohamed Salah |
| 2 | Manchester United | 14,000,000 | Cristiano Ronaldo |
| 3 | Arsenal | 9,500,000 | ThomasPartey |
| 4 | Chelsea | 7,700,000 | KaiHavertz |
| 5 | Manchester City | 3,800,000 | Kevin De Bruyne |
| 6 | Leeds United | 3,400,000 | Patrick Bamford |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 3,400,000 | Harry Kane |
| 8 | Everton | 2,300,000 | James Rodríguez |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 1,800,000 | JackGrealish |
| 10 | Leicester City | 1,600,000 | Jamie Vardy |
Despite the tournament taking place in the UK,these searchesare occurringall around the world, with a large volume of searches for the top three teams coming from the USA and India.
Cognitive anthropologist Dr Martha Newsonexplained why the Premier Leagueisso highlyfollowed around the globe:
“The reason the Premier Leagueis popular globally is partly a legacy of colonialism – when football was first exported with colonialists in the late 1800s, some teams were effectively exported too. As televisions became more available in the mid-20thcentury, only Premier League teams would have been available to watch internationally.”
The amountPremier League teamscouldbe earning from social media
- Manchester United is the most-followed team on social media, with a whopping 71.4 million fans across Instagram,Twitterand YouTube
- Manchester United could be raking in as much as £89.8k per social media post if they were to monetise their accounts
- Cristiano Ronaldoof Manchester United, as themost-followed Premier League player (407.8million followers), could be earning £602.8k persocial mediapost
| The biggest social media influencers of the Premier League | |||
| Rank | Football club | Total social media followers (million) | Est. potential earning per social media post (£) |
| 1 | Manchester United | 71.4 | 89,778 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 55 | 63,060 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 47.8 | 59,955 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 39.5 | 55,503 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 38.2 | 40,631 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 18.3 | 21,647 |
| 7 | Leicester City | 7.7 | 8,515 |
| 8 | Everton | 5.3 | 7,645 |
| 9 | West Ham United | 3.8 | 5,752 |
| 10 | Newcastle United | 2.5 | 4,824 |
With social media performing as an effective marketing tool, it’s possible that the online status of a football player could impact purchasing decisionsduring the transfer window. Cognitive anthropologist Dr Martha Newson says:
“When recruiting players, a club’s primary interest is in their abilities on the pitch, but social media influence has added an additional component – the club is effectively endorsed every time someone sees Mo Salah wearing a Liverpool shirt, for example – so these financial implications will be taken into consideration by the club.”
The Premier League teams withthe happiest fans online
- Wolverhampton Wanderers receive the most upbeattweets,witha sentiment scoreof59/100 (with 100 representing the most positive sentiment)
- They’re closely followed by Leicester City and Leeds United, both scoring 58/100
- Tottenham Hotspur receives themosttweets ofanegative sentiment, only scoring 23/100 – the lowest of all teams. They’re joined in the bottom three by Newcastle United (30) and Manchester United (37)
Premier League teams and playerscan receive thousands of mentions on Twitter every day, but are these words of encouragement and support, or ridicule and frustration?
Tofind outwhich teams have the happiestandthemost negative fanbases online, tweets mentioning each of the Premier League squads wererun through a sentiment analysis tool.
Speaking on the subject,Dr Martha Newson, a cognitive anthropologist, explains that:
“Perennially low-ranking clubs, like Wolverhampton Wanderers, will have the most highly bonded and loyal fans due to the transformative nature of dysphoric matches where the team has lost or been relegated. This means that fans won’t be put off by losses.”
The most valuable players in FantasyPremier League
- Emiliano Martínez is the best-valueplayeron Fantasy Premier League(FPL). He costs£5.5 millionand scored186 pointslast season,workingoutata decent 33.82 points per million
- He’s joined by five other goalkeepers in the top 10 best-value players on FPL, whereas the 10 most popular (and therefore most expensive) players are mainly forwards and midfielders
Fantasy Premier League is the largest fantasy football league in the world, withover8million people playingglobally.Taking on the role of football manager, participants buy,selland manage a fantasy squad.
While Harry Kane and Mo Salahwerepriced the highest in the gamelast season,due to player popularity and highperformance(both cost £12.5 million), otherscan offerabetter bang forone’sbuck.
Return on investmentwas calculated byweighing up the cost to purchase each player with the number of points they scoredin the 2020/21 season.
| The best value players on Fantasy Premier League | |||||
| Rank | Player | Footballclub | Cost (£million) | Pointsin 20/21 season | Pointsper£million |
| 1 | Emiliano Martínez | Aston Villa | 5.5 | 186 | 33.82 |
| 2 | Stuart Dallas | Leeds United | 5.5 | 171 | 31.09 |
| 3 | IllanMeslier | Leeds United | 5 | 154 | 30.8 |
| 4 | AaronCresswell | West Ham United | 5.5 | 153 | 27.82 |
| 5 | Matt Targett | Aston Villa | 5 | 138 | 27.6 |
| 6 | VicenteGuaita | Crystal Palace | 4.5 | 124 | 27.56 |
| 7 | Hugo Lloris | Tottenham Hotspur | 5.5 | 149 | 27.09 |
| 8 | Jack Harrison | Leeds United | 6 | 160 | 26.67 |
| 9 | Ederson | Manchester City | 6 | 160 | 26.67 |
| 10 | Lukasz Fabianski | West Ham United | 5 | 133 | 26.6 |
The role of social media in football fandom
Today,top Premier League clubssuch as Manchester Unitedhavegarneredsocial media followingsashighas 71 millionacross Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, and playerslikePaul Pogbaarenot far behind on an individual level(54.8millionacross Insta and Twitter).
So,it’s evident that social media plays a significant role in the football industry.It can shapethefan experienceandthe public portrayal of players and clubs,by creating atwo-waystream of communication, and an open platform for expression.
This means italso hasthe potential to hugelyinfluencethe views and opinions ofthose following.
Cognitive anthropologist, Dr Martha Newson says:
“In the future, I would expect to see opportunities for direct relationships between fans and clubs strengthened over social media. This might take the form of more interactive social media channels, incorporating fan vlogs and fan-led social media.”
Whilethe growth of social media can have a very positive impact on therelationships between fans,teamsand players,it can alsofacilitate toxic behaviour.
“Clubs, as money-making operations, have a social responsibility to ensure that no hate is generated on their platforms, that there is opportunity for diversity and engagement, and that they showcase positive role models from diverse backgrounds, communities, and levels in the game.”
