World's Most Talked About Sports Stars

Most Articles Written

Cristiano Ronaldo - 75,334 articles written about him

Cristiano Ronaldo takes the top spot with the most articles written about him over the last year. Ronaldo rejoined Manchester United in the summer of 2021, 12 years after leaving the club for European giants, Real Madrid. Although United struggled during his first season back, Ronaldo did what he did best and scored 18 goals in the Premier League and was the top goalscorer for the club. 

LeBron James - 58,129 articles written about him

LeBron James takes second place with 58,129 articles written about him over the last year. The 37-year-old is approaching his 20th season in the NBA, and is still one of the best players in the game. Last season, James became the oldest player to average over 25 points per game. 

Tom Brady - 55,612 articles written about him

The NFL legend completes our top three with over 55,500 articles written about him over the last year. A year on from winning his 7th Superbowl in February 2021, he announced his retirement from the sport after 22 seasons. However, after just 40 days, Brady made a dramatic u-turn on his decision and continued to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Most Engagement

Cristiano Ronaldo - 101,993,342 total engagements from articles

Taking the top spot again is Cristiano Ronaldo who has received over 100 million engagements from articles written about him. Ronaldo is top by a country mile, with almost 70 million more than second place. 

Lionel Messi - 33,112,539 total engagements from articles

Lionel Messi enters the top three, taking second place with over 33 million article engagements. The Argentinian left Barcelona in the 2021 summer transfer window, 17 years after making his debut for the first team. Messi joined Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer and has been a victim of his own standards with many fans expecting more from him. Nonetheless, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner won the French league title, scoring six goals and registering 14 assists in his first season in Paris.

LeBron James - 28,002,027 total engagements from articles

LeBron James completes our top three with just over 28 million engagements from articles written about him. James was in the headlines towards the end of last year, with Kyle Rittenhouse filing a lawsuit against the LA Lakers player for defamation. 

Highest Average Engagements per Article

Cristiano Ronaldo - 1,354 average engagements per article

Cristiano Ronaldo takes the top spot once again, this time by a finer margin with an average of 1,354 engagements per article written about the Portuguese superstar. Ronaldo has won five Ballon d’Ors and is the top goalscorer ever at an international level, and in the Champions League. 

Mohamed Salah - 1,335 average engagements per article

Mohamed Salah takes second place, with his first entry into the top three. Articles about Salah have received an average of 1,335 engagements over the last year.  Nicknamed by Liverpool fans as the ‘Egyptian King’, Salah holds the record for the most Premier League goals scored in a 38-game season, where he hit the back of the net 32 times. Salah has also recently signed a new contract, becoming the highest-paid player in Liverpool's history. 

Paul Pogba - 1,320 average engagements per article

Paul Pogba completes our top three with 1,320 engagements on average per article. With Pogba’s contract running out, the Frenchman was constantly in the news regarding his next club. After being linked with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and PSG, Pogba concluded the saga by rejoining Juventus on a free transfer for the second time in his career during the 2022 summer transfer window, six years after leaving the Italian giants for Manchester United for a record fee. 

Most Searched Sports Star

Cristiano Ronaldo - 162,880,000 Google searches

Cristiano Ronaldo takes top spot by a country mile, with over 160 million Google searches in the past year alone. Ronaldo’s total Google searches are over twice as many as second place, showing just how popular the Manchester United forward is. 

Neymar - 70,770,000 Google searches

Neymar takes second place with just over 70 million Google searches over the last year. The Brazilian superstar became the most expensive player in football history when he transferred from Barcelona to PSG for a world record fee of over €200 million. Although the winger hasn’t quite lived up to the hype, with his time in France plagued with injuries, Neymar is still regarded as one of the top players in the world, and one of the most exciting players with his speed and agility when taking on defenders. 

LeBron James - 62,420,000 Google searches

LeBron James completes our top three with over 62 million Google searches over the last 12 months. The 37-year-old is a four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA MVP. James has even won two Olympic gold medals with the USA national team

Most Loved and Hated Sports Stars

Being a famous athlete brings a variety of opinions from the fans. It’s very easy to love a player that scores for your team, and hate a player that scores against your team, but there are some players who are liked and disliked more unanimously. That’s why we looked at the fan reactions to articles written about the players, to see which sports stars were the most loved, and most hated. 

Most Loved Sports Stars

Roger Federer/Steph Curry - 84% love reactions

The top spot is shared by two great sports stars, Roger Federer and Steph Curry, who both received 84% of love reactions from the articles posted about them. Federer, the tennis superstar, has won almost everything there is to win and is regarded as one of the best players of all time. 

Curry is also considered one of the greats in his respective sport and was the first-ever NBA player to win the MVP award by unanimous vote. 

Klay Thompson - 83% love reactions

Another basketball player makes the top three, this time with Klay Thompson taking second place with 83% of love reactions to the articles that have been written about him. The 32-year-old has played for the Golden State Warriors since being drafted back in 2011. Thompson has been a huge success since signing for the Warriors, becoming NBA champions four times, with 2022 the most recent. The shooting guard has also made the NBA All-Star team for four consecutive years, from 2015 to 2019. 

Karim Benzema - 80% love reactions

Karim Benzema completes our top three with 80% of love reactions from the articles written about him. Benzema endured one of his most successful seasons yet, which is some statement considering the long career he has already had. The Frenchman has become the star at Real Madrid and was the driving force behind Real Madrid’s remarkable run to the Champions League final, where they were victorious for the 14th time in their history. Benzema scored hat-tricks against PSG and Chelsea, as well as the winning goal against Manchester City, which not only secured Los Blancos’ place in the final but has made him the favourite for the upcoming Ballon d'Or. 

Most Hated Sports Stars

Amari Cooper - 20% angry reactions

Amari Cooper takes the top spot with 20% of angry reactions to the articles written about him. The NFL wide receiver joined the Cleveland Browns after three years at the Dallas Cowboys. Cooper was the fourth pick in the draft, where he signed for the Oakland Raiders. During his rookie season, he became the first rookie ever to record 1,000 receiving yards, and in doing so recorded the most receiving yards by a rookie. 

Novak Djokovic - 18% angry reactions

Novak Djokovic takes second place in our list of most hated sports stars, with 18% angry reactions to articles written about him. Djokovic has been in the news over his COVID vaccination status and has recently been denied entry into the US as a result of this, which means he will not be able to participate in the 2022 US Open. Whilst it is possible that some of these reactions are from readers expressing their anger towards his absence from the US Open, Djokovic has proved to be controversial recently. Regardless, the Serbian has continued his success this year, and became the 2022 Wimbledon champion, winning the tournament for the seventh time in his career. 

Aaron Rodgers - 15% angry reactions

Aaron Rodgers completes our top three with 15% of angry reactions to the articles written about him. The Green Bay Packers quarterback became the highest-paid player in NFL history when he signed a four-year deal earlier this year to stay at the Packers. Rodgers won the NFL MVP four times in his career, in 2011, 2014, 2020, and 2021.

Methodology

Our original list came from Forbes’ list of the top 50 highest-paid athletes.

We then used Buzzsumo to discover the most articles written, the most engagement, and the highest average engagement for each sports star.

We used Google search volume to find out the sports stars with the most searches over the last year. 

We then created a normalized score out of 10 for each category, before taking an average of those scores to get our popularity score. 

We also used Buzzsumo for the most loved and most hated sports stars.

Data is accurate from 06.09.2022 and shows figures from the last 12 months.