As the biggest sporting event across the globe plays, Gautam Viswanathan draws up a list of the ten most marketable players at the 2014 FIFA World Cup .
AFIFA World Cup always provides players with opportunities in the presence of a multitude of interested representatives of world-famous football clubs from around the world. It’s also a chance for companies to sign up sporting celebrities to become the new face of their globally-sold products.
Here are the ten most marketable players at the
2014 FIFA World Cup.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal and Real Madrid)
The Portuguese superstar’s good looks and breathtaking performances on the field have netted him a plethora of commercial deals. Considered to be the most marketable player on the planet, Ronaldo rakes in a whopping $28mn from commercial endorsements every year. Close to 84 per cent of the world recognises him as the face of world football and with 82mn Facebook likes and 29mn followers on Twitter, Real Madrid’s number seven has widely been acknowledged as an endorser’s dream. His long term Nike deal sees him earn $9.5mn a year. In addition, a few of the brands he endorses include supplement manufacturer Herbalife, global fast food conglomerate Yum! Brands, which operate the KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurant chains and luxury Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer. In addition to launching his own personal clothing brand titled CR7, Ronaldo is also the face of automobile manufacturer Toyota, engine lubricant giant Castrol and world-renowned mobile phone manufacturer Samsung.
2. Neymar da Silva (Brazil and Barcelona)
The meteoric rise of the new darling of Brazilian football has seen companies queue up to sign him as a brand ambassador. Although only 22, even before his whopping $124mn move to Barcelona last summer, Neymar’s deal with Panasonic saw him earn a seven-figure sum with the electronics giant. His deals with the Internet Group of Brazil, telephone company Nextel and energy drink brand Red Bull earned him more than $4mn a year. Regarded as the face of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Barcelona forward earns $19mn a year via lucrative deals with Castrol, Police sunglasses and L’Oreal, which has seen him launch his own cologne, titled Drakkar Noir by Neymar. Named Eurosports’ Most Marketable Athlete of 2013, Neymar currently has a long-standing agreement with Nike, who’ve agreed to provide him boots and kits until 2022, in addition to sponsorship deals with Volkswagen and Konami.
3. Lionel Messi (Argentina and Barcelona)
Easily recognisable the world over, Messi is second to only Ronaldo in terms of commercial viability. His modest demeanour means he is someone that everybody can associate with. Messi pockets a cool $23mn in endorsements every year. Adidas have snapped up the diminutive Argentine on a long-term deal worth $9mn annually. He is only the second player around whom Adidas have created a signature boot collection, the first being David Beckham. In addition, Messi is a global brand ambassador for video game giants EA Sports, being regularly featured on the cover of company’s FIFA series and is also on the books of pharmaceutical and supplement producers Procter and Gamble, Neutrogena and Herbalife. The three-time Ballon D’Or winner is the face of fashion houses Dolce and Gabbana and Audemars-Piguet. A UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Messi has a long-standing agreement with Pepsi and signed a multi-million dollar contract to be a brand ambassador for Turkish Airlines last year.
4. Mesut Ozil (Germany and Arsenal)
Mesut Ozil is famously earns more from endorsements than any other German sportsperson does. Widely regarded as one of Real Madrid’s best ever signings during his time in Spain, the now Arsenal midfielder earns about $6mn a year from commercial deals. Signed by Adidas on a seven-year agreement worth $35mn, the German promotes their Predator line of football boots. Ozil is the face for several German companies, including automobile manufacturing giants Audi and Volkswagen. Ozil is also a brand ambassador for Geneva-based Swiss watchmaker Cyrus Genève and like Messi, is heavily featured in EA Sports’ worldwide marketing campaigns. He’s also entered the perfume market, having launched two extremely popular fragrances — With love from Mesut, which targets a younger customer base — and the more adult-oriented Mesut Ozil Seduction. He was also previously on the books of Nike who had him on a five-year contract worth $28mn.
5. Thomas Muller (Germany and Bayern Munich)
Muller is considered to be the endorsement king of the Germany National Football Team and bags around $4mn a year in corporate earnings. Winner of both the Young Player of the Tournament and Golden Boot awards at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Muller is best known for his promotion of a brand of yoghurt, also named Muller, alongside legendary striker Gerd Muller. The versatile forward is also the face of German energy company Rewe, for whom he has been seen in several advertisements. He is also featured as part of the marketing campaign for Adidas’ Adizero F50 series of football boots. Part of a marketing strategy by German companies which sees them employ German players to promote their brands, Muller is also contracted to Volkswagen, multinational financial services company Allianz and consumer goods conglomerate Unilever. He recently signed a contract with American barbeque company Weber-Stephen, who has an extensive sponsorship portfolio in Germany.
6. Wayne Rooney (England and Manchester United)
Rooney is considered to be the Golden Boy of the current generation of England footballers. Annually, he earns close to $7mn from endorsements. Rooney recently signed an improved contract with United, which will see him earn an eye-popping half a million dollars a match. In addition, the commercial department at Old Trafford will seek out lucrative financial deals for him. He is currently contracted to Nike and is the face of their T90 Laser IV boots, for which he receives about $1mn a year. Rooney is on the books of EA Sports and was on the cover of the FIFA series seven consecutive times. He also has an $8.4mn book deal with publishing house HarperCollins — considered to be one of the biggest in sports publishing — and is a brand ambassador for both Samsung and Nokia. Replica shirts featuring Rooney’s name are some of the most popular in the world. United sells between 1.2 and 1.5 million shirts a year globally, of which Rooney’s number in the hundreds of thousands. He is the fifth-highest paid footballer in the world.
7. Karim Benzema (France and Real Madrid)
Benzema is the highest paid French sportsperson, ahead of NBA superstar Tony Parker and fellow footballer Franck Ribery. The striker of Algerian origin earns about $6mn from endorsements every year. Like Ozil and Messi, Benzema too is a brand ambassador for Adidas. He is the poster boy for their F50 Adizero series of cleats and has appeared in several ads featuring the same. Benzema is also extensively featured on EA Sports merchandise and has appeared on the French version of the FIFA series since 2008. Prior to the 2012 European Championships, Benzema had been recruited by Hyundai, alongside Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi, England forward Daniel Sturridge, Spanish goalkeeping legend Iker Casillas and Germany’s Lukas Podolski. He is also a rep for French telephone company Buzz Mobiles. Under the agreement, the company will host lucky draws which prizes that include memorabilia signed by Benzema.
8. Fernando Torres (Spain and Chelsea)
Torres is the highest earner among all the members of the Spain National Football Team. He earns around $3.5mn a year in endorsements. Before Torres began to endorse the Adidas Predator LZ earlier this year, he earned around $2mn a year from rival company Nike. He’s been extensively featured in Pepsi advertisements in his native Spain. Despite not finding the back of the net as often as he would’ve liked for club and country, the forward’s poster-boy looks have seen several commercial endorsements come his way. Torres regularly does work for sports drink company and also represents Spanish department store El Corte Ingles, fashion house PUIG and financial firms Aviva and the Banco Gallego. Ahead of the 2012 European Championships, Torres signed sponsorship agreements with German automobile company Continental and their American counterparts Chevrolet. Formerly, Torres had been contracted to several companies including Pepe Jeans, Kellogs, Pringles, Spanish beverage company Mahou-San Miguel, television channel Cuatro TV and restaurant chain Telepizza.
9. Andres Iniesta (Spain and Barcelona)
The heartbeat of Spain’s and Barcelona’s midfield, Andres Iniesta’s endorsements bring him around $2mn every year. Like many internationally renowned footballers, the playmaker is provided boots and training kit by Nike and is often found sporting their Magista and CTR360 Maestri II series of boots alongside fellow international superstars David Luiz and Thiago Silva of Brazil and Germany’s Mario Gotze. He is regularly featured on the Spanish version of EA Sports’ FIFA series and has to his portfolio a rather exotic range of sponsorship deals. He was recently signed up by Spanish ice cream manufacturer Kalis and kitchenware manufacturer Arcos, whose knives are forged in Iniesta’s native region of Albacete. Iniesta is contracted to Turkish Airlines alongside fellow Barcelona club mates Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol, Manchester United players Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs and Luis Nani and fellow sports stars Kobe Bryant and Caroline Wozniacki. With the rest of his Barcelona team mates, he also is featured heavily in Qatar Airways’ promotional content.
10. Steven Gerrard (England and Liverpool)
Liverpool skipper Gerrard is a football icon, having spent his entire club career with the club. His loyalty has seen several companies sign him up to endorse their brands, for which he receives $4.5mn a year. Gerrard’s major source of endorsement earnings come from Adidas, who pays him $1mn a year for his promotion of their boots. He’s often seen sporting their Nitrocharge and Predator ranges. He’s been with the German boot manufacturers since 1998 and has appeared in commercials alongside Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Lionel Messi and Ricardo Kaka.
The midfielder is also the face of automobile manufacturer Jaguar, being regularly featured in their print and television adverts. However, Gerrard’s endorsements sometimes see him being compensated in kind: in 2008, in exchange for promoting the Azizi Crystal Tower on Dubai’s Palm Jebel Ali, Gerrard received a flat in payment. Last year, he signed an agreement with Microsoft to promote the Xbox One ahead of the game console’s launch and also has a contract with sports drink company Lucozade. Gerrard is also on the board of several financial companies, which see him make tax-free returns from investments in the film industry.
Source:
Forbes Magazine for: Player earnings, Marketing and TV returns for FIFA
Sponsorship investments