- Burnley has the most fake fans, with 36.86% of their Instagram followers analysed as being fake.
- Bournemouth ranks second with 36.12% fake followers.
- Fulham comes in third place with a total of 34.07% fake followers.
- Other high-ranking teams include Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Everton.
New data has revealed the Premier League teams with the fakest fans on social media.
The research conducted by OLBG analyzed Premier League teams’ Instagram accounts to establish which teams have the highest percentage of suspected fake followers.
Burnley topped the list of Premier League teams with the biggest fake fans, with 36.86% of their 691,900 followers being predicted as likely to be fake. Burnley’s most favourited post is from the 25th of April, with a total of 72,800 likes, declaring themselves champions when they got promoted to the Premier League.
In second place is Bournemouth, which has 799,400 Instagram followers, and an estimated 35.52% of those being fake. Bournemouth recently claimed their first league win of the season with a 2-1 win against Burnley on Saturday 28th October.
In third place is Fulham, with 34.44% of their one million Instagram followers being analysed as not real. Fulham gains an average of 17,400 likes per Instagram post, 13,900 more than Burnley’s average likes per post.
Crystal Palace comes in fourth place with a predicted 33.62% fake fans out of 1.8 million Instagram followers. The most popular Crystal Palace post has gained 197,500 likes on the 31st of August, welcoming goalkeeper Dean Henderson to the team from Manchester United.
In fifth place is West Ham United, which has the most significant following of the top 10, with four million Instagram followers, with 31.32% of those estimated to be fake. West Ham United gained an average of 29,800 likes per post, with their most popular post of welcoming 23-year-old Mohammed Kudus to the club gaining 248,000 likes and 2,900 comments.
Everton followed closely behind in sixth place, with 30.04% of their 3 million followers being classed as fake.
In seventh place is Brighton and Hove Albion, with 29.32% out of their 1.7 million Instagram followers being analysed as fake. Brighton and Hove have the second-highest Instagram engagement rate of 1.28% out of the top 10 Premier Leagues ranked.
Sheffield United are in eighth place, with 28.84% fake followers of their 670,300 Instagram followers. Just after that is Brentford, which has 483,000 Instagram followers and an equivalent of 27.05% fake followers.
Finally, rounding off the list in tenth place is Aston Villa, with 26.63% of their followers being fake from their 3.5 million Instagram following.
At the other end of the scale, Luton Town, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United are the top three Premier League with the highest percentage of genuine Instagram followers.
“The Premier League is the biggest league in the world, so it’s interesting to see which teams have the biggest fake followers on Instagram, as football fans are renowned for being very loyal to their club,” OLBG spokesperson Ryan Roberts said. “It’s fascinating to note that although Burnley ranked as having the highest number of fake followers, for a town of a population of 94,700, it is an incredibly well-supported club.”
“It’s important to remember that fake accounts are not always paid for or wanted by the accounts they follow. Some tips to spot fake accounts is to look for missing or limited details on profiles, stock images or little or no posts.”
