Spanish football clubs and social media visibility: The case of LaLiga EA Sports (2023/24 season)

This article quantitatively analyzes the social media visibility of the football clubs playing in the First Division of the Spanish Football League, known as LaLiga EA Sports, for sponsorship purposes. The study is based on the analysis of the presence of the 20 teams playing in the 2023/24 season of LaLiga EA Sports, on the social networks Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube. The “language used” in the Spanish social media accounts of these clubs is also studied as a variable on a sub-sample. The results indicate that 100% of the clubs analyzed have official accounts on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube. While some clubs are only present in these four social networks, some are present in up to eight. The article ranks the clubs according to number of followers on their social networks. In this regard, two clubs stand out above the rest: Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. On the other hand, in global terms, Instagram is the social network with the largest quantitative following. It was also found that all clubs follow a low number of accounts, although with very different proportions. Finally, with regards to the analysis of the “language” used in their Spanish social media accounts, the clubs use, as expected, Spanish, but also English and even the language of their autonomous community.