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They don\u2019t call her the GOAT for no reason: Simone Biles is the most popular active athlete, according to the latest edition of Kantar\u2019s Sports Monitor Athlete Reputation Tracker.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s followed by a handful of football and basketball stars including Patrick Mahomes, Caitlin Clark, Steph Curry, and Travis Kelce, both sports with athletes that dominate the rest of Kantar\u2019s top 25 list.<\/p>\n
Olympic gold: <\/strong>Biles\u2019s ranking\u2014a score of 99 out of 100\u2014indicates that she has both high familiarity and likeability. To arrive at its rankings, Kantar asked about 1,300 sports fans how much they like and how familiar they are with a list of more than 100 athletes, rewarding athletes for familiarity and strong positivity and penalizing them for negativity, according to the report.<\/p>\n Since the survey was fielded between June 18 and July 3, just ahead of the Paris Olympics, it\u2019s perhaps unsurprising that a few Olympians\u2014all women\u2014made the top 25. Biles was joined by Katie Ledecky at No. 11, with a score of 51, and Suni Lee at No. 21, with a score of 42.<\/p>\n America\u2019s favorite sport(s): <\/strong>Beyond the Olympic cohort, NFL players occupy a significant share of spots, making up 40% of the top 25 active athletes list. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Mahomes came in at No. 2, with a score of 87, and Chiefs tight end Kelce clocked in at No. 5, scoring 70. Mahomes took the top spot in last year\u2019s report, when Kelce ranked 15.<\/p>\n Additionally, basketball players and golfers had strong showings this year:<\/p>\n Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Winning culture: <\/strong>While Clark and Kelce saw their star power rise, some athletes\u2019 rankings decreased fairly significantly this year, including basketball players Nikola Joki\u0107, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid, as well as Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and retired soccer legend Megan Rapinoe.<\/p>\n Why? Put simply, US sports fans can be unforgiving, according to Ryan McConnell, EVP at Kantar.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the NFL and I think particularly in the NBA, if you don\u2019t win a ring, if you don\u2019t win it all, there\u2019s almost this culture that you\u2019re a failure,\u201d McConnell said. \u201cEspecially talented athletes [like Prescott and Embiid] who are maybe reaching their late 20s, early 30s, who haven\u2019t won the big prize yet, I think that those people tend to get a lot of criticism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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