The business of social media has changed the landscape of how fans can interact with popular athletes and influencers. In the early days of Twitter and Instagram, NBA stars were using the apps to say and post whatever was on their mind. As the apps grew in popularity, brands realized the value of a tweet or a post and soon commercialized their accounts.
While we lost these players casually sharing their thoughts on these apps in favor of corporate-approved content, these players were able to monetize their social media.
Boardroom.tv has revealed the 5 highest-paid athletes on Instagram. The list is topped by LeBron James, who makes a whopping $427,684 per post, according to estimates. A distant 2nd place is Stephen Curry, who makes $148,434 per post. Russell Westbrook comes in 3rd with an estimated $66,986 earned per post.
4th place goes to Kyrie Irving at $56,501 per post. The list is rounded out by a surprising name in Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, who makes $47,538 per post.
Considering the popularity of the NBA and how all these players have almost 15 million followers, it is understandable to see why these prices are as astronomical as they are.
The first 4 names on the list are superstars in the league and are all some of the biggest names in the sport. Lonzo Ball hasn’t had the same on-court impact as the others but realized the power of social media before he even got drafted, carefully building his presence since he was a child alongside his father, LaVar Ball.
With all the sources of income NBA athletes have, their personal social media apps being able to generate money for them through deals that may include 1 post is extremely beneficial. Even when they stop playing one day, they can stay relevant and continue earning from outside of the sport because of their presence on apps like IG and Twitter.
