Why U.S. sports teams like the Chicago Bulls are betting on international audiences for growth

NBA team the Chicago Bulls is looking to grow its international audiences using dedicated social profiles — and it’s hoping that international brand deals follow.

Earlier this month, the team unveiled its latest social profile to do just that on Instagram, with a new account, @LosBulls, which has gained nearly 24,000 followers in 10 days since its debut. The Spanish-language account is just the team’s latest push into social media in other languages. In 2022, the Bulls created a French language Instagram account, @LesChicagoBulls, which has roughly 108,000 followers. The team also has accounts on Chinese social media platforms Weibo (3.7 million followers), Douyin (437,000 followers) and KuaiShou  (323,000 followers).

“Basketball is such a global game, a quarter of the NBA players are actually born outside the U.S. now,” said Luka Dukich, vp of content for the Chicago Bulls. “The Bulls are uniquely positioned for international fan bases. Across all social media followers, we have 45 million fans. That’s more than the other Chicago professional sports teams have combined. The difference is the international fan base.” (On Instagram specifically, the Bulls have 10.1 million followers. Chicago’s eight other professional teams have a combined following of 7.3 million.)

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