On the field, FC Bayern has been one of German soccer’s biggest brands for decades. But even off the field, the record champion is in a league of its own. A new analysis by the influencer agency Netzschreier shows just how great the digital reach of the Munich squad has become.
At the start of the 2026–27 Bundesliga season, Netzschreier analyzed the Instagram reach of all professional players from the 18 first-division clubs. The result from Bayern’s perspective is impressive: the record champions’ players collectively have 91.03 million followers.
This puts Munich far and away at the top of the Bundesliga. Bayer Leverkusen follows in second place with 31.97 million followers. The Bayern squad thus has nearly three times as much Instagram reach as the Werkself.
The contrast is even more striking when compared to Borussia Dortmund. The BVB players collectively have 17.99 million followers, while Eintracht Frankfurt has 11.02 million. Bayern, Leverkusen, Dortmund, and Frankfurt are also the only four Bundesliga clubs whose squads collectively surpass the 10-million-follower mark on Instagram.
Kane is Bayern’s biggest social media star
Harry Kane plays a significant role in Munich’s top ranking. The English superstar now has 20.19 million Instagram followers, making him the second-largest individual influencer in the entire Bundesliga.
Only Lucas Vázquez of Bayer Leverkusen, with 21.4 million followers, ranks ahead of the Bayern striker. The trajectory of these two stars is particularly noteworthy: While Vázquez has lost more than 1.2 million followers since his move from Real Madrid to Leverkusen, Kane has gained nearly 2.5 million new Instagram followers in just one year.
This means the Englishman could even take the top spot in the Bundesliga rankings in the future.
The new signings have also further increased Bayern’s digital reach this summer. The three new Munich players have a combined total of 3.16 million Instagram followers.
By far the biggest social media star among them is Ismael Saibari. This new signing alone has 2.56 million followers, accounting for a large portion of Munich’s additional reach.
When it comes to new signings, Bayern has to give way to Leipzig
In the ranking of new signings with the widest reach, however, Bayern only manages to take second place. RB Leipzig clearly leads this statistic with a total of 6.97 million followers.
Christopher Nkunku, Neil El Aynaoui, and Marc Guiu alone bring more than six million followers with them to Leipzig. Behind Bayern, VfB Stuttgart follows closely in third place with 3.1 million. Bayer Leverkusen has 2.7 million, and Borussia Dortmund has 1.75 million.
Marlon Giglinger, CEO of Netzschreier, emphasizes that digital reach has now become economically significant for the clubs as well: “Of course, no player is signed just because he has a lot of Instagram followers. The decisive factors are, first and foremost, athletic ability, potential for development, and whether he’s a good fit for the team. Nevertheless, a soccer player’s digital reach has long been more than just a nice bonus.”
International stars could bring clubs additional attention, tap into new target audiences, and increase their appeal to sponsors.
FC Bayern, in particular, is a prime example of this. With Kane, the Munich club has one of the Bundesliga’s most widely followed players, and this summer they signed Saibari, another professional with a following in the millions.
These figures also underscore the record champion’s international appeal: With more than 91 million followers across its roster, Bayern is currently the undisputed social media giant in the Bundesliga.