10 Most Influential Athletes on Twitter

Ad.ly, the company that hires celebrities to tweet on behalf of brands, just released their list of the most influential athletes on Twitter.

The list is a nice snapshot of which athletes are really good at selling stuff through their Twitter feeds.  However, the list is skewed by the fact that it contains only the athletes in the Ad.ly endorsement network.

“Twitter’s dramatic growth over the past 12 months is due in large part to it’s adoption by athletes and artists — who bring millions of passionate fans with them to the social web,” said Arnie Gullov-Singh, CEO, Ad.ly, Inc. “These celebrities create the lion’s share of the content people want on Twitter. They’re the ‘Prime Time’ in social media.”

Ranking was decided by which athletes were able to drive the most visits to brands’ sites, videos and applications. Ad.ly pays the star jocks on a sliding scale based on performance by their stable of their famous tweeters. The celebrities whose fans will click on their messages stand to make a lot more money than those who can’t drive action.  So, fan loyalty actually translates into a viable monthly revenue stream for these celebrities.  The list reveals that the number of followers doesn’t necessarily make a difference in influence. What matters is whether your fans listen to you.

1. Ryan Sheckler — Professional Skateboarder — 1,825,676 Followers

2. Paul Pierce — Boston Celtics, NBA — 1,818,226 Followers

3. Lamar Odom — LA Lakers, NBA — 1,427,831 Followers

4. Apolo Anton-Ohno — Olympic Speedskater, USA – 252,889 Followers

5. Nick Swisher — New York Yankees, MLB — 1,319,996 Followers

6. Jalen Rose –- Phoenix Suns, Retired, NBA –- 296,382 Followers

7. Steven Jackson — St. Louis Rams, NFL – 68,688 Followers

8. Kirk Morrison — Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL – 363,962 Followers

9. Darnell Dockett — Arizona Cardinals, NFL – 66,341 Followers

10. Shaun Phillips — San Diego Chargers, NFL – 424,864 Followers