How Creators Power the Premier League’s Global Reach

Where the real impact lies: the EMV leaderboard

Often, brands struggle to compare the impact of traditional marketing campaigns with influencer activity. Simple metrics, such as the number of creators activated, don’t translate easily across channels.

Earned media value (EMV) helps close that gap. EMV estimates how much the buzz generated by influencer content (likes, comments, shares) would have cost if purchased through paid advertising. It gives brands a clearer way to benchmark awareness campaigns and compare performance across channels.

Here are the top five teams in the Premier League ranked by EMV:

• Manchester United €168.98M EMV: United leads the league in EMV, supported by strong global reach and high engagement efficiency.
• Liverpool FC €159.67M EMV: Liverpool’s large creator base and high content volume translate into strong overall EMV.
• Arsenal €157.41M EMV: Despite activating slightly more creators than Manchester United, Arsenal generates slightly less EMV—highlighting the influence of legacy fanbases and high-reach creators.
• Chelsea FC €138.71M EMV: With a smaller creator pool, Chelsea’s impact comes from professionalised content and a higher share of mega-creators.
• Manchester City €137.45M EMV: City’s EMV reflects strong reach but lower total creator volume compared with rivals.

Overall, the data shows that both the number of creators and the resonance of their content shape a team’s online performance. To measure that connection, we need to look at the number of engagements. 

What drives engagement: formats, platforms & tiers

The engagement rate reveals what percentage of an influencer’s audience interacted with a post. It’s a better indicator of audience connection and community than follower counts or views. 

While TikTok is typically the platform with the highest engagement rates, content tagging the Premier League on Instagram generated higher engagement rates than TikTok. 

Let’s compare engagements on TikTok and Instagram for the top ten Premier League teams, ranked by EMV:

• Manchester United

‍TikTok: 2.36% (8.73M)

Instagram: 10.18% (50.23M)

• Liverpool FC

TikTok: 1.82% (6.32M)

Instagram: 6.17% (49.01M)

• Arsenal

TikTok: 2.86% (3.76M)

Instagram: 7.96% (36.3M)

• Chelsea FC

TikTok: 3.4% (34.49M)

Instagram: 4.64% (34.77M)

• Manchester City

TikTok: 1.64% (1.81M)

Instagram: 4.07% (26.48M)

• Tottenham Hotspur

TikTok: 1.42% (2.36M)

Instagram: 3.48% (16.28M)

• Newcastle

TikTok: 0.72% (1.15M)

Instagram: 6.68% (7.44M)

• Aston Villa

TikTok: 1.01% (385.38K)

Instagram: 2.8% (5.54M)

• Crystal Palace

TikTok: 1.06% (1.44M)

Instagram: 5.36% (5.44M)

• Nottingham Forest

TikTok: 1.35% (259.7K)

Instagram: 3.09% (3.18M)

Manchester United leads on Instagram with a striking 10% engagement rate. That’s three times higher than the top on TikTok—Chelsea with a 3.34% engagement rate. 

Chelsea has the league’s youngest team, with an average age of 24. It’s likely that this drives the higher engagement rate on TikTok, which has a younger customer base. 

Chelsea also activates celebrity influencers. A video by British rapper Tion Wayne (@tionwayne9, 1.3M followers, TikTok) shows a visit to Stamford Bridge. It gained 234K likes, connecting with his young followers, who are mostly (56%) aged between 18 and 24. 

While celebrity influencers like Wayne drive strong engagement, data consistently shows that micro and mid-tier influencers drive the strongest engagements. Why? Because they are better able to connect with their smaller communities. 

Micro-creators like Shauyne (@shaunye_, 23.4K followers, Instagram) can have a considerable impact. The influencer posted a humorous Reel featuring a mock proposal interrupted when he spotted his partner’s Liverpool-themed phone background, aligning with fan sentiment.

The post went viral, achieving an extraordinary 976% engagement rate, making a meaningful contribution to Manchester United’s EMV.

The influencer, Shauyne, shared the post during the week of the team’s 2-1 win against Liverpool, arguably United’s biggest rivals, on 19 October 2025. The last-gasp win over the title holders inspired fans, resulting in a huge 20% engagement rate during the week beginning 13 October.

These emotional spikes of wins, losses and jaw-dropping moments consistently outperform regular posting cycles because they tap into shared fan sentiment for supporters and neutrals.

Fans follow these moments from around the world. The Premier League includes players from 127 countries, boosting interest from their home nations. 

A good example is West Ham. With 8% of its audience based in Brazil, it’s no surprise that one of the creators generating the most buzz for the club also comes from there. São Paulo–based Victor Lo (@victorlo_, 2.71M Instagram followers) drove €889.86K in EMV for West Ham. One of his most popular posts featured the shirt of Brazilian midfielder Paquetá, one of West Ham’s top players. It’s a strong example of how international creators help sustain and expand the league’s global visibility. 

Long-form content can explore these key moments with even more depth. On YouTube, deeper tactical discussions, storytelling, and analysis thrive with channels like FourFourTwo (@FourFourTwo, 632K, YouTube) and The Adam Clery Football Channel (@ACFC, 180K, YouTube).

Longer formats provide creators with space to develop storylines, build brand affinity, and nurture deeper audience relationships, which is essential when seeking to expand global influence.

Who really moves the needle: top creator spotlights

There are many creators amplifying Premier League narratives. And there’s a huge variety in the styles of content they share. 

Let's look at the top performers in terms of EMV. 

Official football accounts generate the most noise

Official football accounts, such as those for the Champions League, the Europa League, and the England National team, generate significant noise around the Premier League. 

Here’s how much buzz official accounts made the top ten teams by EMV:

• Champions League (@championsleague, 121.2M followers, Instagram): The official page for the Champions League has generated €40.52M in EMV since the start of the 2025–2026 Premier League season and shares significant match moments.
• Premier League India (@plforindia, 2.2M followers, Instagram): This localised Premier League account has generated €28.91M in EMV, showing the power of regional content.
• Europa League (@europaleague, 14.9M followers, Instagram): The official Europa League channel has generated €23.35M in EMV in posts about the Premier League, driven by high-frequency posting that boosts reach around a major European competition.
• La Premier League (@lapremierleague, 4.1M followers, Instagram): The Spanish-language Premier League account has generated €14.78M in EMV.
• England Football (@england, 12.5M followers, Instagram): The official England national team page has generated €14.21M in EMV, showing prestige and the relevance of international championshps—even during the qualifying stages. 

Who are the top Premier League influencers?

The Premier League is nothing without its fans. Whether they’re professional creators or casual posters, the content they share genuinely shapes community sentiment and drives real impact.

Hamid Sahari: mega-influencer and cartoonist

Hamid Sahari (@hamidsahari, 7.1M followers, Instagram) is an independent cartoonist from Austria. He is known for humorous football skits featuring players and managers. By jumping on trending news and conversations, he maintains an impressive 7.5% engagement rate.

Content tagging Premier League teams sits just below that at 4.95%, exceptional for a mega influencer, resulting in €12.46M in EMV. Hamid Sahari has a global follower base—almost one in five (18%) are Iranian, 9% are Indonesian, and 5% are Italian. 

Micro and nano-influencers: small follower counts, significant impact

It’s easy to assume that bigger accounts drive all the engagement. In reality, nano- and micro-influencers are responsible for a high amount of EMV. And they come from all over the world. 

SAMOHT (@by.svmoht, 4.9K followers, Instagram) is a standout French nano-influencer, with 63% of his audience based in France. He has generated €76K in EMV for Premier League teams during the specified period. His reel showing a visit to the Arsenal stadium brought in 5K engagements, resulting in a 114.42% engagement rate, worth €11K in EMV.

German micro-influencer, Livia Winter (@livia.wnr, 40.8K followers, Instagram) generated an impressive €4.61M in EMV from Premier League-related content. Although she primarily follows the Bundesliga, she also mentions Premier League clubs.

American influencer Travis Parker (@travisparkerhair, 74.3K followers, Instagram) is a hairstylist and creator whose football content comes entirely out of left field. In one post reviewing extreme hairstyles by Bohdan Vasylkov, he tagged Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC, generating a remarkable €749K in EMV. The vast majority (79%) of his followers live in the U.S. 

H4: TikTok creators: humour wins over professionalism

Blud UG (@Bloodoffical0, 1.7M followers, TikTok) has generated €6.62M in EMV. The content features a young child wearing a fake beard, often recreating iconic football moments. His posts typically lean on humour, quick reactions, and easily shareable formats, which helps them travel fast across football fan communities. Half (50%) of the account's followers live in Uganda. 

Dandy Purwadinata (@dandypurwadinata, 430.3K followers, TikTok) creates humorous football content. He generated €1.17M in EMV since August. Most of his audience (88%) lives in Indonesia. 

Players as influencers: Eze, Fernández and Šeško

Here are the three football stars who generated the most EMV:

• Eberechi Eze (@eze, 2.09M followers, Instagram): After moving to Arsenal, Eze’s profile has skyrocketed, gaining 553K followers in the past three months. He’s currently a star in the Premier League, and his content generated €8.37M in EMV, with a massive 28.05% engagement rate driven by personal, authentic content, and just 18M views. 
• Enzo Fernández (@enzojfernandez, 12.11M followers, Instagram): The Chelsea midfielder generated 47M views, but a lower engagement rate, despite a large following, left him creating €7.02M in EMV. 
• Benjamin Šeško (@benjaminsesko, 1.78M followers, Instagram): The Manchester United player generated €5.81M in EMV. The content had a lower reach but a huge engagement rate of 43.94%

Fan groups and presenters - SportsBible, Jolie Sharpe, and Emma Jones

The following football channels offer professional-tier content on the go:

• 433 (@433, 77M followers, Instagram): Generated €7.96M in EMV for the top ten Premier League teams, the sports brand 433 is a major independent football media hub built on viral, trend-first content.
• Sport360 Arabia (@sport360arabiya, 1.81M followers, Instagram): Generated €5M in EMV, leveraging Arabic-language football coverage to reach a massive regional audience with consistent, story-led content.
• SoccerBible (@soccerbible, 5.82M followers, Instagram): Generated €4.64M in EMV, known for premium visuals and its cultural, lifestyle-focused approach to football.

Additionally, presenters like Emma Jones (@eljonesuk, 439K followers, Instagram) and Jolie Sharpe (@joliesharpe, 162K followers, Instagram) are also significant drivers of online conversation. They share professional interviews and are popular in the football space. 

What this means for brands & agencies

Brands and agencies have an excellent opportunity to create buzz around key Premier League moments.

Here’s how to run effective campaigns that drive EMV for your brand:

1. Start with the audience: Identify growth markets and analyse which creators, content types, and stories are resonating most. Let audience behaviour guide your decisions.
2. Build a long-term creator strategy: Plan beyond one-off posts. Activate creators around high-impact football moments, such as opening weekend, derbies, Boxing Day, or transfer windows.
3. Diversify your formats and platforms:
   
   1. YouTube for deep analysis and storytelling
   2. Instagram posts polished football content, Reels for high-engagement, and Stories for quick check-ins
   3. TikTok for casual, experimental and trending content
4. Measure what matters: Track EMV and engagement to benchmark performance against competitors and the broader market.
5. Prioritise transparency and safety: Use clear ad disclosures, perform brand safety checks, verify conflicts with club sponsors, and avoid resharing illegal or unauthorised content.

The easy way to find the data you need

Creator activity across tiers and platforms shapes Premier League conversations and drives EMV. To act on these insights, brands require reliable and up-to-date data.

A platform like Kolsquare makes it simple to find the right creators, track EMV, monitor trends, and benchmark performance. It streamlines planning, activation, and reporting, allowing brands and agencies to focus on what works and measure impact with clarity.