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The World's Highest-Paid Soccer Players

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Christina Settimi (http://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/) Forbes Staff

I focus on the business of sports.

4/18/2012 @ 1:56PM 561,619 view s

The World's Highest-Paid

Soccer Players
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Manchester United star Wayne Rooney

(http://www.forbes.com/profile/wayne-rooney/)
called it as he saw it during Super Bowl XLVI,
tweeting

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(https://twitter.com/#%21/WayneRooney/statuses/166318591703138304)
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 (http://www.forbes.com/soccer) in the world at
$2.24 billion), which is owned by U.S. billionaire Malcolm Glazer
(http://www.forbes.com/profile/malcolm-glazer/) and his family, who also
own the NFLs Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, Rooney can feel pretty

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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
1 of 21

(http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlh45eel/no1-davidbeckham/)

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World's Highest Paid Soccer Players

Soccer attracts more corporate money than any other sport in the world; it's players
attract over $250 million a year from sponsors. Of the $256 million the top ten star
athletes earned last year, 43% ($111 million) was from endorsements from the likes of
Adidas, Nike, Puma, Pepsi, and EA Sports. Figures include salaries, bonuses and
endorsements earned during 2011.
Read full story (http://blogs.forbes.com/christinasettimi/?p=118)

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
underwear reportedly doubled. Another sign Brand Beckham is becoming
more business savvy? His contract with the Galaxy he signed a two-year

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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 (http://www.forbes.com/profile/cristianoronaldo/) 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
(https://twitter.com/#%21/Cristiano/statuses/185010912246243328) 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

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records. Included among them, in March he became the first to score five 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
(http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlh45eel/worlds-highest-paid-soccerplayers/#gallerycontent)
Follow me on my blog (http://blogs.forbes.com/christinasettimi/) and on
Twitter (http://twitter.com/#/csettimi)
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