Saudi Pro League teams gain 1.5 million new Twitter followers in the first half of 2023

Together, the performances of Saudi Arabian teams on Twitter surpass those of the Italian, Brazilian, French and Mexican leagues

In the spotlight due to their ambitious plans to form one of the main football leagues on the planet, the 18 clubs in the Saudi Pro League invested heavily in signing sports stars and, as a result, gained 1.4 million new followers in the first half of 2023.

Between January 1st and July 2nd, the performance of the Saudi league surpasses that of traditional world football leagues, such as the Italian Serie A, Brazil’s Serie A, Ligue 1 (France) and the Mexican top flight.

The data considered as the second semester corresponds to the 3rd to the 23rd of July

In terms of interactions, Al Nassr’s English account became the world’s leader in engagement on Twitter at 11.4%. The club had been a kind of forerunner in the country on the signing of none other than Cristiano Ronaldo after the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

In its account in English, the Portuguese star’s club had 20.18 million interactions, ahead of sides like Corinthians, River Plate, Fluminense, Newcastle United, Roma and Sevilla, to name a few.

Al Ittihad ranked seventh in engagement ranking in the first half of 2023.

We also have Al Hilal in 16th position in the ranking of interactions, with a total of 11.35 million in this period. The club is also  13th in having the most new followers – just behind Al Nassr’s English account. In the same list, Al Ittihad is in 15th position. The club has grown a lot since signing French striker Karim Benzema, Real Madrid’s key player in recent seasons.

Huge room for growth

Despite the large number of new followers, the performance of Saudi clubs has not yet translated into interactions.

The graph below shows the continued predominance of Brazilian clubs in this regard.

The data considered here as the “second semester” covers the 3rd to the 23rd of July

In the opinion of Bernardo Besouchet, PR Manager at Samba Digital, gaining followers is just the first step on a long road.

“The exposure that the athletes will bring to the league will immediately cause a growth of followers in an often organic way. But this is just the beginning of the work. Now, with these renowned players on the field, Saudi Pro League clubs will have the mission to produce content that is able not only to retain, but also to inspire and cause interaction. With creativity, invitations to celebrities, influencers and a lot of content, we will notice a greater presence of Arab clubs in our timeline and, consequently, a maturation of these brands around the world as they seek to establish themselves as one of the main leagues on the planet.”

New signings boost post performances

Portuguese midfielder Rúben Neves was signed by Al Hilal, and the post announcing the deal became the one with the highest number of interactions on Twitter in the semester: 290,000.

🎬 من معقل “الذئـاب” إلى #كبير_آسيا 💙#الهلال pic.twitter.com/lAsh8CWCfX

— نادي الهلال السعودي (@Alhilal_FC) June 23, 2023

The second-ranked post  in terms of the most interactions was also by Al Hilal, with the presentation video of Kalidou Koulibaly, the Senegalese defender signed from Chelsea. In all, it totaled 206,000 interactions.

🎬 نواصـل كتابة التاريـخ.. معـًا 💙#فيديو_الهلال #الهلال pic.twitter.com/LfvJlq7oPp

— نادي الهلال السعودي (@Alhilal_FC) June 25, 2023

The post with the third best performance is from Al Ittihad, which celebrated the signing of none other than Karim Benzema, French striker and former star of Real Madrid — no less than 182,000 interactions.

البنــز اتحادي ✍️🤩
🎼 الحظ الليلة كريم#Benzema2Ittihad#here2inspireKSA pic.twitter.com/YvsWFzebXF

— نادي الاتحاد السعودي (@ittihad) June 6, 2023