Social media ranking: Bayern is not one of the top clubs | OneFootball

FC Bayern has been one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world in sporting and economic terms for years. The German record champions are also among the absolute elite on social media – but they are not currently in the top five in an international comparison

This is shown by a new analysis by the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES), which compared the number of followers on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube – as of May 2026

FC Bayern has a strong total of 165.2 million followers across all platforms, putting the Munich club in eighth place worldwide

Real Madrid dominates the social media world

Real Madrid lead the rankings by a wide margin, with a total of 487.6 million followers on their channels according to the survey

FC Barcelona follows directly behind with 441.8 million, after which there is already a clear gap to Manchester United in third place with 238.6 million followers

The other places ahead of FC Bayern are occupied by Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Liverpool FC and Juventus Turin

Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, among others, follow behind the Munich team, meaning that Bayern continues to belong to an exclusive group of clubs that exceed the 100 million followers mark worldwide

Bundesliga loses international reach

The figures also reveal a structural problem for the Bundesliga in international competition, with clubs from Spain and England continuing to have a clear advantage in global marketing

FC Bayern has been trying to counteract this for years – among other things with international summer tours, test matches in Asia or North America and targeted marketing measures abroad

Borussia Dortmund also makes it into the ranking, coming in 17th place – just behind Flamengo and Al-Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo’s club

One thing is clear: in sporting terms, FC Bayern has long been one of the absolute world leaders, but in terms of global reach on social media, there are still some international heavyweights that are ahead of the Munich team.