Conor McGregor’s popularity took a massive hit on November 22, after the mixed martial arts (MMA) star lost a major court case.
Finbold research found that the fighter lost an average of 14,629 fans per day on Instagram over an 11-day period after the ruling that ended on December 2, for a total drop of 160,918.
However, the celebrity still retains a massive following – recorded at 47.35 million – on December 3, and the losses in the wake of McGregor being found liable in the civil case have only barely negated his earlier gains stemming from a November online confrontation with Jake Paul.
McGregor’s 2024 losses extend far beyond social media
Though the drop in McGregor’s Instagram following does not appear severe in comparison, the fighter is likely to suffer a significantly greater loss from the brands that decided to cancel their sponsorships of and partnerships with the star.
By late November, hundreds of supermarkets across Britain and Ireland and Proximo Spirits—the company that acquired McGregor’s whiskey brand—had decided to discontinue using the fighter’s image and name in their promotional material.
Furthermore, some Web3 projects—such as Convict McGregor (CONVICT)—have targeted him in the wake of the ruling.
As Andreja Stojanovic, a co-author of the research, pointed out:
“The momentum emerging from the 160,000 Instagram follower loss, paired with lost partnerships, demonstrate the severity of McGregor’s fall from grace.”
Finally, it is worth pointing out that the situation for the Irish MMA star could change rapidly, depending on the outcome of his appeal to the November 22 judgment.
Read the full story with statistics, here.
