Ronaldo is the world's most marketable footballer
With over 82 million Facebook likes and 26m Twitter followers, Portugal international Cristiano Ronaldo, has been described as “an endorser’s dream”.
Repucom, a top global sports marketing research group, described Ronaldo as the most marketable footballer in the world.
The Real Madrid attacker pipped Lionel Messi to the Ballon d’Or in January and edged out the Argentine from Repucom’s top 10 trend-setters in the game.
Repucom’s CEO, Paul Smith, said: “His value is as important to the teams he plays for as they are for the companies that endorse him.
“Global awareness of Ronaldo is what drives his commercial power and with over 82 million Facebook likes and 26m Twitter followers, he is also one of the most liked in the business.”
Messi is a close second to Ronaldo, while the Argentine’s Barcelona team-mate, Gerard Pique, who has a child with pop star Shakira, occupies third place.
Even more surprisingly, Chelsea’s much-maligned forward Fernando Torres is fourth in the rankings, just ahead of England international Wayne Rooney.
Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta is sixth, just ahead of another Blaugrana player (the fourth in total), Brazilian superstar Neymar.
Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas stands eighth, ahead of the only two players in the top 10 not plying their trade in either Spain or England: Paris Saint-Germain ace Zlatan Ibrahimovic and New York Red Bulls veteran Thierry Henry.
Repucom use a marketing measurement tool that analyses the perceptions of over 6,500 people in 13 countries, which is taken as a representative sample of the views of more than 1.5 billion people worldwide.
