Canelo Alvarez surpasses Chicharito and Messi in popularity amongst Latin athletes

For Hispanic Heritage Month in the US, ESPN used a formula created by FiveThirtyEight, which incorporates on-field performance, social media popularity and ESPN analyst commentary to arrive at a conclusion of just who the most popular Latin athlete is, and it proved to be Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez.

He took top spot on the list, followed by PSG players Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. while Mexican driver Sergio Perez and UFC fighter Amanda Nunes round out the Top 5 on the list.

The results showed a list of stars that transcend their respective sports to leave their mark on the culture and daily life of the Latin community in the United States.

Notably, Dominican baseball player Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres finished in the top 10 of the poll, but was removed following his suspension for performance-enhancing drugs and his resultant absence on the field.

Information was derived from four perspectives to arrive at the conclusion:

Search Interest: To gauge which athlete attracted the most attention, Google Trends search data from around the world since the start of last season. It tracked the relative traffic of everyone in the running. The ranking was based on who had the highest average search index from July 1, 2021 to July 1, 2022.

Social Media: It was also important to measure the popularity of each candidate on the list, in addition to how much they connect directly with fans. A social media ranking was created based on the athlete’s total number of Instagram followers (through August 2022).

Performance: Sporting performance was judged using value metrics (such as wins above replacement in baseball) as well as the ability to generate or prevent goals (in football) or statistical rankings (such as those found in BoxRec or FightMatrix), depending on the sport.

Expert opinion: Finally, the perception of each athlete was recorded by those who follow him or her most closely, and 40 ESPN journalists were asked to rank their top 10 candidates in their specialized sport.

The results were compiled into a combined ranking, with players receiving 10 points for each first-place vote, nine for second and so on, down to 1 point for a 10th-place ranking.