Red Card 2022: FC Barcelona, the most popular European club on social media in China

FC Barcelona (LaLiga Santander) was the most popular European club on social media in China in 2021, according to the "Red Card 2022" report (available to download) by Mailman Group, a Chinese agency that analyses and manages the digital presence of brands on the Internet, published on 17/02/2022. Leading the standings for the third consecutive year with 66 points, the Catalan club ranked ahead of two Premier League clubs: Chelsea FC (62 points) and Manchester United FC (60 points).

Notably, FC Barcelona is the most followed European club on Weibo and Douyin (China's equivalent of TikTok), where content posted by the Catalan club recently exceeded 100 million likes. Mailman Group also acknowledged Barça's numerous initiatives to interact with Chinese fans, such as the opening of an account on the social network Xiaohongshu, dedicated to lifestyle content, in August 2021, and the launch of a digital membership programme in partnership with the Chinese media platform iQiyi Sports in September 2021 (see below).

Chelsea FC (Premier League) was the European club that gained the most…