Red Bull is everywhere. From Austria to New York, the energy drink brand is taking up shelf space at both your local convenience store and the world of sport.
The Austrian-based brand hosts an impressive roster of world-renowned athletes from all walks of sport and every corner of the globe. Known for the love of action and adventure, Red Bull athletes span all disciples from windsurfing and skydiving to more traditional sports. While they are synonymous with extreme sports like BMX, motocross, and skydiving, the endorsement marketing roster does not lack for star power. The brand has forged relationships with several of the most marketable athletes in soccer (even going as far as owning an MLS team, the New York Red Bulls and teams in Salzburg, Leipzig, São Paulo), basketball, and baseball.
Below, we break down the most marketable among the brand’s endorsement roster: the most influential Red Bull sponsored athletes by social media following.
13. Breanna Stewart | WNBA
Instagram Following: 226,000
Facebook Following: 45,000
Twitter Following: 87,000
Total Following: 358,000
The 2016 WNBA Rookie of the Year leverages Red Bull to highlight her professional story in order to motivate future athletes.
12. Paul Rabil | PLL
Facebook Following: 83,000
Instagram Following: 383,000
Twitter Following: 91,000
Total Following: 557,000
Often described as the best lacrosse player ever, the leader of the Premier Lacrosse League has worked hand-in-hand with Red Bull to document his workouts and fitness regiment in a series of vlogs.
11. Beauden Barrett | Mitre 10 Cup
Instagram Following: 591,000
Facebook Following: 149,000
Twitter Following: 102,000
Total Following: 842,000
Barrett sat down with Red Bull to shed light on what being a part of the All Blacks, the New Zealand national rugby union team, is all about. Plus, it looks like he has an interesting project in the works.
10. Dominic Thiem | ATP Tour
Instagram Following: 1.2 million
Facebook Following: 280,000
Twitter Following: 214,000
Total Following: 1.6 million
The newly-minted U.S. Open champ currently hosts his own tennis tournament in his native Austria. While he earns his living on the tennis court, he’s another Red Bull athlete who has engaged in race track activations with the brand.
9. Kris Bryant | MLB
Instagram Following: 1 million
Facebook Following: 600,000
Twitter Following: 700,000
Total Following: 1.9 million
Bryant is a consistent top-performer on the diamond, but he doesn’t stop there. His endorsement partnership with Red Bull has led Bryant to belt homers into the Chicago River, get pranked by Greg Maddux, swim with sharks, field ‘literal’ flaming fastballs, roam anonymously through Austria dressed in lederhosen, and become the first United States athlete to be featured in a Red Bull cartoon. This relationship has fostered some of the most unique activations in the athlete sponsorship and endorsement industry.
8. Max Verstappen | Formula 1
Instagram Following: 3.6 million
Facebook Following: 999,000
Twitter Following: 1.3 million
Total Following: 5.9 million
In 2016, at the age of 18, Verstappen joined Red Bull Racing and hasn’t looked back. You can find the Formula One driver repping Red Bull gear and driving his branded car on race days.
7. Séan Garnier | Freestyle Footballer
Instagram Following: 4.3 million
Facebook Following: 1.6 million
Twitter Following: 67,000
Total Following: 5.9 million
The inaugural Red Bull Street Style winner back in 2008, Garnier has continued to represent as a Red Bull athlete in the annual competition. With a skillset tailor-made for social media, Garnier has amassed over ten million total followers, placing him in elite company in sports.
6. Trent Alexander-Arnold | Premier League
Instagram Following: 4.9 million
Facebook Following: 2.7 million
Twitter Following: 1.5 million
Total Following: 9.1 million
One of the world’s premier fullbacks at the age of 21, Alexander-Arnold became a Red Bull athlete last year and has worked with the energy drink brand to share his footballing journey on his way to stardom.
5. Travis Pastrana | Motocross/Extreme Sports
Instagram Following: 3.9 million
Facebook Following: 6.1 million
Twitter Following: 832,000
Total Following: 10.8 million
The first-ever X Games winner can be spotted repping his Red Bull gear during competition and branding his skateboarding course with the energy drink. Oh yeah, he also rode through the Red Bull office on a motorcycle.
4. Blake Griffin | NBA
4. Blake Griffin | NBA
Instagram Following: 3.7 million
Facebook Following: 4 million
Twitter Following: 4.3 million
Total Following: 12.1 million
When you dunk over a Kia, you’re going to stand out.
The Red Bull athlete has no problem highlighting his personality and getting creative. The 2011 Slam Dunk Contest winner frequently puts his comical side to good use. In 2017, Griffin put on his first comedy benefit. With proceeds going to the Team Griffin Foundation, guests were treated to an entertaining night with jokes flying from a whos-who of comedians including Whitney Cummings, Norm Macdonald, and Griffin himself.
3. K.L. Rahul | Cricket
Instagram Following: 7 million
Facebook Following: 4.5 million
Twitter Following:4.5 million
Total Following: 16 million
The global cricket superstar highlights his involvement within Red Bull Campus Cricket. One of the most followed athletes on social media, the cricketer consistently publishes content created alongside Red Bull.
2. Ninja | e-sports
Instagram Following: 14.7 million
Twitter Following: 6.4 million
Facebook Following: 600,000
Total Following: 21.7 million
Tyler Blevins, known to the gaming universe as “Ninja”, has risen to unparalleled global popularity since he began streaming full time in 2011. In addition to his nearly 22 million followers across the big three social platforms, he also boasts an additional 4.3 million followers on TikTok, 15.8 million on Twitch, and a staggering 24.1 million on YouTube!
Adorning his signature Red Bull bandanna, Ninja further collaborated as Red Bull to build the ultimate stream room that would make and video gamer jealous. And with a dedicated following of nearly 40 million subscribers across YouTube and Twitch, fans will get used to the luxury gamer cave.
1. Neymar | League 1
Instagram Following: 142 million
Facebook Following: 64.8 million
Twitter Following: 49.6 million
Total Following: 256.4 million
The PSG and Brazil National Team footballer is a global superstar in the prime of his career. The Champions League Finalist employs that same star power into Red Bull Neymar Jr’s Five. A five-a-side tournament pitting the world’s best street footballers against another, the competition drew over 400,000 signups in 2019.
With the tournament, now in its fifth edition, being canceled in 2020 due to Covid Neymar is still searching for the seven best amateur footballers to take on him and his mates in a secret match in December. Fans have till September 30th to upload a:60 video to Instagram displaying their skills (while tagging @redbullneymarjrsfive and using the hashtag #outplaythemall).
Red Bull Athlete Endorsers
The above Red Bull athletes combine for nearly 343 million followers across all social media platforms. When you rent such mental real estate, you are bound to make your mark. Sponsorship opportunities with the global brand have simultaneously elevated the reach of an athlete’s personality while showcasing that the energy drink can become the market leader for all of life’s adventures.
