India cricket team captain Virat Kohli is ninth on the list of sports stars when it comes to cost per Instagram post. The 29-year-old superstar batsman is 17th overall on the list topped by American television personality, Kylie Jenner.
Celebrity status brings with it a lot of monetary benefits, especially when it comes to branding and promotional activities related to it. The advent of social media, which offers a two-way connection between the fans and their icons, has only helped businesses find newer avenues to market their products.
For decades, cricketers have been raking in quite a lot of money from promotional activities in the country. And with millions of followers on social media platforms, the work has been made easy for our superstars.
Kohli ahead of Stephen Curry and Floyd Mayweather
Kohli, according to Instagram scheduler HopperHQ, is valued at $125,000 (Rs 82.5 lakh) per Instagram post. With 23.2 million followers on the photo-sharing platform (at the time of writing this article), the batting great is comfortably ahead of American boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry.
Cristiano Ronaldo with 133 million followers, tops the list and he may charge up to $750,000 per post.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar is second on the list and Barcelona great Lionel Messi tails him.
David Beckham, who retired from the sport in 2013, still manages to grab the fourth spot followed by Gareth Bale, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luis Suarez, and Conor McGregor.
Jenner, who owns a cosmetic empire, is valued at $1,0000,000 for a post on Instagram. She is comfortably ahead of her stepsister Kim Kardashian, who is fourth on the list behind Selena Gomez and Ronaldo.
WWE professional-turned Hollywood star Dwayne Johnson is sixth on the list and is valued at $650,000 per post.
Notably, celebrities, including actors, models, and sportspersons, are raking in large sums of money by promoting brands on social media.
Kohli, in the last 45 days, has made promotional Instagram posts, which includes posts for a popular taxi cab and luggage brand among others.
Top 11 sportspersons on Rich List 2018 (Data credit: HopperHQ)
| Athlete | Cost per Instagram post |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | $750,000 |
| Neymar | $600,000 |
| Lionel Messi | $500,000 |
| David Beckham | $300,000 |
| Gareth Bale | $185,000 |
| Zlatan Ibrahimovic | $175,000 |
| Luis Suarez | $150,000 |
| Conor Mcgregor | $125,000 |
| Virat Kohli | $120,000 |
| Stephen Curry | $110,000 |
| Floyd Mayweahter | $107,000 |
