FC Barcelona has become the first sports franchise in the world to have over 50 million fans on Facebook and the Spanish soccer power also claims it now has one of the 30 most popular Facebook pages in the world.
The historic achievement comes after a 2013 in which Barcelona gained more than 11 million new fans. The foreign countries with the highest number of fans are Indonesia, with 4.7 million, Mexico (3.4), Brazil (2.5), the United States (2.1) and Turkey (1.7).
The number two team in the world on Facebook is Real Madrid. Barcelona's arch rival has over 47 million fans and its superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, is tops among all athletes in the world with almost 69 million likes on Facebook.
The drive on social media has been part of a global strategy by Barcelona to expand its global brand. The growing popularity of the team has been underpinned by Lionel Messi, the game's top striker, who has led Barcelona to four first-place finishes in Spain's La Liga and two Champions League titles over the past five years. Messi has more than 52 million likes on Facebook.
During the past two years Barcelona’s work has been recognised internationally in the form of such accolades as the Social Star Awards, presented to the most influential organizations and people in specific categories. The team's success with social media has had a profound impact on attracting sponsors, like its recent $25 million, five-year deal with Intel, and increasing the value of the team.
In April we valued Barcelona at $2.6 billion, almost double what the team was worth in 2012. The only two soccer teams ahead of Barcelona are Real Madrid ($3.3 billion) and Manchester United ($3.2 billion).
The interconnection between the social popularity of Barcelona and Real Madrid and their two superstars, Messi and Ronaldo, is going to become magnified as La Liga moves towards new television deals following the 2014-15 season. The two teams currently earn about $180 million a season each from television rights, about half of the total amount Mediapro pays the league. The value of the next television deal should increase by more than 50%, although the distribution within the league could be more equitable.
