Casablanca – Brazilian club Botafogo is developing a broader push into the Moroccan market around Hakim Ziyech now that the former Chelsea and Ajax player generated a sharp rise in the club’s audience in Morocco within weeks of his arrival.
According to Brazilian outlet ge Globo, Botafogo gained more than 300,000 followers across its social media platforms between September 7 and 30, with over 262,000 coming from Morocco.
The figures mean Moroccan users accounted for close to nine in every ten new followers during that period.
The outlet reported that 127 publications related to Ziyech generated around 64 million impressions and 34 million video views, prompting Botafogo to move beyond the initial attention surrounding the transfer and develop a longer-term communication, branding, and commercial plan aimed at the Moroccan audience.
The campaign has included geographically targeted digital distribution, audiovisual productions, and a special clothing collection developed with Reserva Ink.
Botafogo is also planning recurring content for Moroccan supporters, alongside material exploring cultural and historical connections between Morocco and the Brazilian club and introducing its history, former players, fan culture, and Rio de Janeiro to the new audience.
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The approach was visible from the moment Ziyech was announced. Botafogo confirmed the 33-year-old’s signing on September 10 on a contract running through the end of 2028.
The announcement video deliberately connected Moroccan imagery with Rio, moving between the Moroccan desert and Botafogo Bay while drawing on the green star of Morocco’s flag and the Brazilian club’s Lone Star symbol.
The club has since expanded the story through its own media operation. On September 29, Botafogo Films released Ziyech: A Estrela do Marrocos or “Ziyech: The Star of Morocco,” which is a short documentary centered on his arrival and his significance in Morocco and across African football.
Botafogo said the production was also intended to explore the new international connection created by the transfer. It reported that the film approached 40,000 views in its first 24 hours.
Ziyech offers Botafogo an unusually recognizable entry point into Morocco. He was a central figure in the Atlas Lions’ historic run to the 2022 FIFA World Cup semifinals and remains one of the country’s most adored football names following a European career that included time with Ajax and Chelsea.
He moved to Brazil after a stint with Wydad Casablanca, giving his arrival additional resonance among Moroccan supporters.
His commercial impact has also developed faster than his sporting story in Brazil. Ziyech made his Botafogo debut on September 19, playing the second half of a 2-0 defeat to Mirassol after arriving in Brazil earlier that month. By the end of September, however, hundreds of thousands of Moroccan users had already begun following the club.
The reported expansion is primarily digital and commercial rather than a physical Botafogo presence in Morocco. But the scale of the early response has given the Rio club something more durable to work with than the usual burst of attention accompanying a high-profile transfer: a large new audience concentrated in one country and closely tied to one of its most recognizable footballers.
