Neymar’s Return to Santos: Impact on Social Media and Sponsorship

Neymar Jr. left Brazil in 2013 at the age of 21 after making his professional debut with Santos in 2009. Twelve years later, the Brazilian forward returns to the club where he took his first steps as a footballer, having won a UEFA Champions League, two LALIGA titles, five Ligue 1 championships, two Spanish Super Cups, three Copa del Rey trophies, and three French Cups, among other accolades.

Neymar’s return to Brazil has sparked a true revolution at Santos, which is currently competing in the second division of Brazilian football. Since the first rumors of his comeback emerged, the club has experienced significant follower growth, driven by Neymar fans eagerly awaiting the official announcement.

We’ve already seen with signings like Messi’s move to Inter Miami that social media plays a crucial role in measuring the impact of a high-profile transfer on a club. Using data from our platform, we will analyze how Santos has grown in terms of follower count and content performance with Neymar’s return, as well as the economic impact of this growth on the club’s sponsors.

Follower Growth

The first rumors about Neymar’s potential return to Santos began circulating in mid-January. On January 19, Fabrizio Romano, in collaboration with 433, reported that the Brazilian club was working on the deal. That same day, Santos’ social media channels saw a remarkable surge in followers, reflecting the power of these types of announcements.

Key Dates

January 28: The day after Fabrizio Romano confirmed Neymar’s return to Santos.

February 1: The day after Santos’ official announcement.

February 3: The day after Neymar’s presentation.

Fabrizio Romano has a massive audience—over 103 million followers across all his platforms. When combined with 433‘s fanbase, the total audience reaches 200 million users.

Every transfer announcement by Romano, accompanied by his iconic “Here we go”, generates extraordinary levels of engagement, providing brands featured in his posts with highly valuable exposure. For clubs and sponsors, the ability to monitor and quantify this impact is essential when assessing social media ROI beyond the team’s own channels.

Santos’ Social Media Impact

On January 31, Santos officially announced Neymar’s return. That day, the club surpassed 50 million interactions across all platforms, with 35.2 million coming from Instagram alone.

To better understand the impact of this announcement, it’s essential to compare post-performance metrics—such as engagement, views, impressions, and generated value—against the club’s 2024 averages.

Key Insight: In all of 2024, Santos accumulated 170 million total interactions across its social media platforms. However, from January 31 to February 3 alone, the club recorded 77 million interactions, representing 45.3% of the previous year’s total engagement in just four days.

Beyond Owned and Operated Channels

The case of Fabrizio Romano highlights how media-driven posts can exponentially increase the value that sponsoring brands receive. Tracking these metrics is crucial for clubs and their partners, helping to maximize sponsorship value and establish stronger, data-driven agreements.

Having advanced measurement tools like Blinkfire provides a competitive edge in optimizing marketing and sponsorship strategies.

Track and Value Your Brand Partnerships with Blinkfire

Whether you’re a team, player, league, or organization, tracking and valuing sponsorships across social media is essential to maximizing value. Blinkfire empowers partnerships and social media teams with the most accurate, real-time data powered by our patented, proprietary AI technology.

Interested in learning more about how Blinkfire can help track and value your sponsorships and social media content with advanced data reporting.