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The World's Highest-Paid
Soccer Players
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Manchester United star Wayne Rooney called it as he saw it during Super
Bowl XLVI, tweeting Trying to watch super bowl final. How do they call this
football. Like watching paint dry. Looking forward to adverts and music.
He has $24 million reasons for his bias. Thats how much the 26-year old
British striker earned last year, placing him fourth of the highest-paid (what
Americans call) soccer players in the world. Poor-mouthing the NFL might be
seen like biting the hand that feeds him, given that he raked in $17 million in
2011 in salary and bonus from his club (ranked No. 1 among our list of the
most valuable soccer teams in the world at $2.24 billion), which is owned by
U.S. billionaire Malcolm Glazer and his family, who also own the NFLs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, Rooney can feel pretty secure after signing
a contract extension commanding one of the highest salary and bonus
structures in the sport, helping United win its record 19th Premier League title
(and his fourth), and leading the club in goals. He can also boast selling the
best-selling jersey in the league.
10 Highest Earning Players
And who could blame Rooney for looking forward to adverts during the
Super Bowl? Nielsen reports that 51 percent of Super Bowl viewers watch just
for commercials, and they are novel to Rooneys no-commercial-interruptions
version of football. Perhaps he was watching in anticipation of the racy H&M
spot featuring his England national teammate David Beckham. In it the
chiseled 36-year old Beckham stood rotating on a turntable in only his skivvies
to debut his signature line of bodywear. The new deal helped contribute to the
$37 million in endorsements of the total $46 million the Los Angeles Galaxy
star earned, making him the highest-paid soccer player in the world.
The multi-year arrangement with the Swedish retailer makes Becks a partner
in the line, versus just a face for it, a shift his business partner Simon Fuller
said marks his evolution from sporting hero to entrepreneur. Its a wise
move considering that while he modeled for Giorgio Armani, sales of their
Christina Settimi Forbes Staff
I focus on the business of sports.
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underwear reportedly doubled. Another sign Brand Beckham is becoming
more business savvy? His contract with the Galaxy he signed a two-year
extension in January after winning his first MLS cup in November includes
an option to buy an MLS franchise at a discount, which he said he will do when
he hangs up his boots.
In second place on our list is Real Madrids top scorer and 2008 world player
of the year Cristiano Ronaldo who earned $42 million last year in salary,
bonus and sponsorships from the likes of Nike and Castrol. With 42.5 million
Facebook fans and 8.5 million Twitter followers (enough to fill Reals
Bernabeu stadium 500-plus times over) he is the most socially engaged
athlete online, and is leading a new trend in endorsements: social network
deals.
Its a given that sponsors are going to look to add digital and social media
elements into these athletes contracts, said Doug Shabelman, President of
Burns Entertainment in speaking about the influence of soccer stars who play
in the worlds most popular sport. Having a celebrity speak directly and in
some cases, more personally to Facebook, Twitter or other followers can help
accentuate the above the line campaigns in a completely different and unique
way. The more personal and more direct-to-your-consumer these companies
can get, the easier it is to see a return on their celebrity investment.
Shabelman helped negotiate Ronaldos current 3-year Clear Shampoo deal
which included a Facebook campaign where his fans could choose his next
hairstyle. The 27-year old perfectly coiffed Portuguese winger recently drove
additional traffic to the Facebook contest through a tweet in March. His
agency didnt disclose numbers but said the social networking response was
overwhelming.
Recently Ronaldos social network followers have seen him promote his
nowhere-else advertised mobile game Heads Up! developed by RockLive,
CRonaldo Freestyle soccer game developed by Biodroid Entertainment and
self-branded mobile application developed by Mobile Roadie, all published by
Digital Artists Entertaiment. Judging by how active he is on the social
networks pitching these, his Nike Mercurial Vapor 8 shoes and the
documentary Castrol did of him, it looks like the $21 million he made in 2011
in endorsements was money well spent and well earned.
His La Liga nemesis, Lionel Messi, the current three-time world player of the
year, was slower to join the world of social networking but has been equally
active pitching Adidas, Pepsi and EA Sports to his 34.4 million Facebook fans.
Without the internet the 24-year old Barcelona stars fan base would still get
their fill of him. He has made the highlight reel of nearly every match hes
played this season as he has shattered personal, club, league and international
records. Included among them, in March he became the first to score five
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goals in a Champions League match and broke Barcas all-time scoring
record. While once lagging, his endorsement income finally matches his
potential on the pitch. The Argentine pocketed $39 million last year, $19
million from sponsors, to rank third on our list of highest paid players.
To compile our list, we looked through commercial sponsor filings and spoke
with talent agencies and soccer experts in the U.S. and Europe. All earnings
are in U.S. dollars for salaries, incentives and sponsorship income earned in
the 2011 calendar year.
Full List: The Worlds Highest-Paid Soccer Players
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