Saudi Arabia made headlines in November after beating Argentina at the 2022 World Cup but there was still time in 2022 for an even bigger surprise. On the 30th of December, Saudi Club Al Nassr announced on their social media sites that they had signed the one and only Cristiano Ronaldo on a two-and-a-half-year contract, reportedly worth more than $200m a year. No one predicted this move as he was playing in one of the top teams in the world, Manchester United. The Saudi Club has since noticed the effect of Cristiano’s transfer in terms of shirt sales, ticket sales, and total viewers. Cristiano, 37, is approaching the end of his career and it seems that it will end in Al Nassr. Will that investment of $200m per year turn out successful for the Saudi Club? Was this transfer completed mainly for advertising and marketing? Will the Saudi League be respected and considered as one of the top leagues to watch?
Ronaldo’s exit from Manchester United and entry to Al Nassr is a publicized affair attracting worldwide attention. The $200 million deal is meant to improve Saudi Arabia’s football talents and, some say, a move to strengthen its bidding effort for the 2030 World Cup. There are no facts to back these claims. Ronaldo’s entry into Saudi football comes after the recent Qatar World Cup. Still, one might ask, what else did Ronaldo’s move do?
As you can see from this graph, the celebrity/football star has received a huge pay rise since joining the Saudi team Al Nassr. He now receives about $200 million per year just for playing for the side. That’s not including the advertisements he makes in various social media sites. Cristiano Ronaldo is the most famous person on Instagram therefore receives the most money per advertisement.
The player carries the ‘Ronaldo effect,’ whereby all teams associated with the player benefit from profits and commercial deals. The first two graphs show the ‘Ronaldo effect.’ In graph one, Al Nassr’s following grew by 80.1% from 860,000 to 7.8 million immediately after Ronaldo joined the team. A similar effect is observed in graph two when he joined Juventus after exiting Real Madrid. The margin was to grow by 39.8% from 15.3 million to 35.5 million as of November 2019. The current Al Nassr’s following on Instagram is 14.4 million indicating an upward growth from 7.8 million to 14.4 million. Twitter also indicates similar results. The Al Nassr’s English account grew from 90,000 to 585,000 after the news broke out and is currently at 1.1 million. These numbers indicate Ronaldo’s influence.
This indicates that Ronaldo’s influence extends beyond just on-field performance and that his personal brand and following can have a significant impact on the social media presence of the teams he plays for. Twitter is one of the most active social media platforms today. Therefore, for any big brand like Ronaldo’s or any football club like Juventus or Al Nassr, being part of that platform is important. However, just being part of it is not enough. In many scenarios, it has been shown that as more people follow players from different football clubs, so does the number of followers of the same clubs increase. Alternatively explained, once a person follows their favorite football player on Twitter, they are likely to be suggested to the club that the player is assigned. Equally, Ronaldo joining Al Nassr produced a similar effect. The club’s English following grew exponentially from slightly over 90,000 to over 1 million followers following Ronaldo’s assignment to the club. This in itself suffices the description of the “Ronaldo effect” on Twitter.
The “Ronaldo effect” can also be observed in the way that he increases the value of merchandise associated with the teams he is playing for. Ronaldo has one of the highest-selling jerseys globally, with sales reaching over $100 million following his transfer to Juventus. This demonstrates the impact that Ronaldo has on a team’s commercial prospects and his potential for increasing revenue for the team.
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The last graph shows Ronaldo’s pay compared to the top five players. At number two is Kylian Mbappe, whose contract is $128 million. The 72 million pay difference validates the point that Ronaldo’s move from Manchester United to Al Nassr is the most expensive publicity stunt in current football history. However, t-shirt sales 24 hours after Ronaldo’s entry to Al Nassr still pale in comparison to Messi’s PSG move.
This suggests that while Ronaldo’s influence can have a significant impact on social media growth and revenue, it may not necessarily translate to immediate merchandise sales. Perhaps, other factors can be called to play in this scenario. Factors such as brand loyalty, personal preferences, and availability of merchandise may also play a role. It is also worth noting that merchandise sales are only one aspect of a team’s revenue, and the Ronaldo effect may still have a significant impact on the team’s overall profits and commercial deals. Therefore, it is important for teams to consider the potential long-term effects of the Ronaldo effect, not just the immediate impact on merchandise sales.
Methodology:
Monitoring the followers of Al Nasr’s and Juventus’ social media accounts across Twitter and Instagram and measuring the difference before and after Cristiano Ronaldo joined.
Researching multiple sources about Ronaldo’s current contract and the amount he is getting paid yearly.
Comparing Cristiano’s shirt sales with Messi’s to try justify the noticeable difference in salary.
Creating a clear dataset to prove the points I am making. As well as the use of graphs and charts.
References:
Mailonline, A. (2023, January 03). Cristiano Ronaldo effect: Al-Nassr’s Instagram following rises from 860k to 7.8million since signing. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11595267/Cristiano-Ronaldo-effect-Al-Nassrs-Instagram-following-rises-860k-7-8MILLION-signing.html
Mailonline, W. (2018, September 03). The cristiano ronaldo effect: Juventus gained 6 million social media followers after mega-move. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6126433/The-Cristiano-Ronaldo-effect-Juventus-gained-6-MILLION-social-media-followers-mega-move.html
Doyle, M. (2023, February 22). The ronaldo effect: What Cristiano has done for the Juventus brand. Retrieved from https://www.goal.com/en/news/the-ronaldo-effect-what-cristiano-has-done-for-the-juventus-brand/y2io1bd9hyv0100m35astqwxz
Volcano, A., Author, A., & Volcano, C. (2023, January 03). Al Nassr sell out of Ronaldo shirts within hour; 30,000 fans to attend presentation – tribal football. Retrieved from https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/al-nassr-sell-out-of-ronaldo-shirts-within-hour-30-000-fans-to-attend-presentation-4442136
Rudling, M. (2023, March 02). 12 highest-paid football players in the world in 2023. Retrieved from https://squaremile.com/sport/five-highest-paid-football-players-2022/
Cristiano Ronaldo’s impressive amount of Jersey revenue in Arabia and … (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.elfutbolero.us/news/Cristiano-Ronaldos-impressive-amount-of-jersey-revenue-in-Arabia-and-his-difference-with-Messi-20230103-0022.html
Access to the dataset CR7 to Al Nasr excel