One of the most successful and highest paying sports in the world is football. It is only logical to know that each sport has a particular individual that is the highest paid sportsman paid in that particular sport. When the question of who the highest paid footballer in the world is comes up, questions like “Which club does he play for?” “How much exactly does he earn before and after tax?” “What are his acquisitions?” And so on can’t but arise.
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the highest paid footballer in the world for 2016. The Portuguese winger who has played for clubs like Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, Manchester United in England, presently plays for Real Madrid FC in Spain. Ronaldo has often been regarded as the best player in the world, having the won the most coveted Ballon d’Or award three times between 2008 and 2015, having also almost been nominated yearly for the prestigious award.
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Cristiano Ronaldo is not only the highest paid footballer in the world, he is one of the only two footballers in the world, paid after tax. The other is FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. He is paid a whopping $417,600 (£288,000) every blessed week by his current team Real Madrid FC. Even at that, it would be a huge mistake for one to think that wages is this footballer’s main source of income. Cristiano Ronaldo’s swagger and marketability has made him the choice person for a number of popular and giant brands like the Nike, Konami, Emperio Armani, Coca Cola, and a few others.
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In 2009, Ronaldo signed a deal worth $4 million with Castro and renewed it for an additional $5.4 million but that is the least of his endorsements. Ronaldo has been the face of the popular video game Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) on a four year contract that expired in 2015. The deal was reported to have cost the Konami brand around $40 Million. He has worn Nike Mercurial Vapour boots throughout his senior career, and would always feature in Nike’s “All or Nothing” adverts. His 2010 Nike deal saw him go home with a total of $41.1 million, and he’s set to renew the deal for an extra five years for around $64 million with Nike’s Mercurial Superfly CR7 (a boot specially made for Ronaldo) to congratulate him on his renewal.
Ronaldo signed an endorsement deal with KFC for $2 million in 2013. After he appeared in their first advert, the company recorded a significant upsurge in sales, although critics slammed him for promoting a fast food company but it’s just uncertain that the criticism affected his take home. He is also and ambassador for Emirate as he appeared in their advert alongside legendary Pele but the sign on fee remains classified. Ronaldo earns the highest in endorsement deals with Nike carrying the lion share of his total endorsement money.
Ronaldo, who is the third highest paid athlete in the world, falling behind Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao who are both boxers, has an endorsement deal worth around $50 million with Coca Cola and he just recently signed a deal worth over $40 million which is also one of the lucrative deals he signed. Ronaldo has a total net worth of $28 million from endorsement deals, an annual net worth of $80 million, and a total net worth of $300 million to make him the highest paid foot player in the world.