With the 2026 NFL regular season nearing, we decided to analyse which current players are must-see TV.
Whether it’s Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Deion Sanders, Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, the NFL has always had an abundance of superstars, and that is no different in 2026.
With this in mind, and the new season on the horizon, the team here at NFL betting site Betway decided to see which of today’s superstars on the gridiron are the most marketable.
To do this, we looked at five metrics for over 80 active NFL players.
To identify quality on the field as well as hype, we sourced ratings from EA Sports’ Madden 27. To identify general interest, we looked at Google search volume. To look at popularity, we sourced Instagram followers and social media mentions. And to see which players’ highlights are proving the most popular, we analysed YouTube search volume.
Each player was then given a ‘Total Marketability Score’ out of 100 based on how they performed in the five metrics.
According to the data, Kansas City Chiefs tight end and the newly married Travis Kelce is the most marketable NFL player with a total score of 95.70. Despite seemingly nearing the end of his career, Kelce is still rated at an impressive 91 on the newest instalment of the Madden franchise.
Kelce’s 7,778,169 Instagram followers were second only to Odell Beckham Jr.’s 16,527,179. The future Hall of Famer was also second to Aaron Rodgers in both Google and YouTube search volumes. When looking at social mentions, Kelce’s 3,836,120 were over a million higher than the next best.
Trailing Kelce with a score of 92.98 was Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. As mentioned above, Rodgers led the way in Google and YouTube search volumes, while also having the fifth most social media mentions.
A-Rod’s modest Madden rating of 79 is way lower than it has been in the past when the star was in his prime. This ended up costing him a chance of threatening Kelce’s top spot.
Buffalo Bills quarterback and 2024 NFL MVP Josh Allen ranks as the NFL’s third most marketable player.
Allen is one of six players to make this year’s ’99 club’ on Madden and he also received the second most social media mentions over the last year. As well as this, Allen had the fourth highest search volume on YouTube.
Kelce’s teammate and friend Patrick Mahomes rounded off the top four. Despite a down year for the star which ended in a serious injury, many would argue he is still the face of the NFL and his marketability score of 88 backs this up.
Meanwhile, after an impressive season which ended in a Super Bowl appearance, Drake Maye beat Joe Burrow and reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford to a top five spot on the list.
The top 20 most marketable players in the NFL can be seen below.
Rank | Player | Total Marketability Score |
1 | Travis Kelce | 95.70 |
2 | Aaron Rodgers | 92.98 |
3 | Josh Allen | 91.82 |
4 | Patrick Mahomes | 88.00 |
5 | Drake Maye | 86.45 |
6 | Joe Burrow | 85.07 |
7 | Matthew Stafford | 83.09 |
8 | Lamar Jackson | 83.00 |
9 | Myles Garrett | 78.98 |
10 | Micah Parsons | 78.20 |
11 | Odell Beckham Jr. | 73.93 |
12 | A.J. Brown | 72.68 |
13 | Maxx Crosby | 71.72 |
14 | Caleb Williams | 68.66 |
15 | Christian McCaffrey | 65.90 |
16 | Derrick Henry | 64.64 |
17 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba | 63.93 |
18 | Dak Prescott | 63.31 |
19 | Puka Nacua | 63.01 |
20 | Baker Mayfield | 62.09 |
Some of the NFL’s newest talent was also represented in the data. Number one overall pick Fernando Mendoza ranks 67th overall and higher than any other rookie. Meanwhile, Caleb Downs, Jeremiyah Love, David Bailey, Rueben Bain Jr., Arvell Reese, Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson all made the ranking too.
So, those are the NFL stars who are currently the most marketable! However, as with every NFL season, new stars will be born and others may begin to fade due to injuries or age, so who knows what this list will look like in 12 months’ time. As we head into the 2026 NFL season, if you would like to see more content like this while keeping up with the latest odds too, please head over to our NFL page!
Methodology
Using desk research, we sourced 81 of the top and most known active NFL players. The following data was then collected for each player:
Official Madden 27 rating
Instagram followers
Google search volume over the last 12 months (Keywordtool.io)
YouTube search volume over the last 12 months (Keywordtool.io)
Online mentions in social posts and news articles over the last 12 months (Brandwatch)
Each player was then given a normalised Total Marketability Score (Max 100) based on how they performed in the five metrics.
The players were ranked highest to lowest based on their Total Marketability Score.
*Data correct as of 13th August 2026.
