
Household names such as Adidas, Mercedes-Benz and Coca-Cola also have long-term tie-ups with other athletes in the top ten. Ronaldo boasts partnerships with heavyweight companies such as Nike, Altice, Herbalife, Therabody and Unilever-owned Clear. Marketability, on the other hand, seems to have far more longevity – in fact, five of this year’s top ten also featured in the top ten when SportsPro first ranked the world’s most marketable athletes back in 2010. Generally speaking, an athlete is expected to be at the peak of their competitive powers in their 20s.

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Cast your eye across the full standings and you will see that 46 per cent of the athletes are aged between 31 and 40. The two twentysomethings in the top ten are four-time tennis Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka (sixth) and Australian soccer captain Sam Kerr (ninth), aged 25 and 29 respectively. National Football League (NFL) royalty Brady, in tenth, is the eldest statesman of the lot at 45. Indian cricket ace Virat Kohli (seventh) and US Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) striker Alex Morgan (eighth) are both 33. Of the top ten, eight are in their 30s or above. Messi, who ranked fifth having topped the list in 2020, is the youngest at 35 and Williams, in second, has bowed out of tennis at the age of 41. The top five in this year’s 50MM list have one thing in common – they are all aged 35 or older. As this year’s line-up demonstrates, there is ample to unravel and weigh up.Īt the age of 45, Tom Brady is the oldest athlete on the list, while Sky Brown is the youngest at 14 Age is just a number From rising stars to those championing social causes, the nature of what makes an athlete marketable continues to shift and evolve. This list, however, is not reserved exclusively for ‘GOAT’ contenders. Like ‘CR7’, each has a legitimate claim as the greatest of all time in their respective sport. For this year, he is joined in the 50MM top five by Serena Williams, Lewis Hamilton, James and Messi. Enduring worldwide popularity – his Instagram following alone totals more than 481 million – also speaks volumes.Īs he enters the twilight of his career, it remains to be seen quite how long Ronaldo’s appeal will continue.

In this case, it says a lot about Ronaldo’s profile that means he can make arguably the world’s biggest soccer club feel comparatively modest. Yet, whatever the method used, certain things tend to stand out. Developed in collaboration with NorthStar Solutions Group, the updated methodology that produced this year’s 50MM list blended a multitude of factors – from individual data analysis and advanced social media monitoring, to economic valuations and real-world consumer insights – to help paint a clearer picture of athlete marketability than ever before. Of course, being able to flog shirts is not a universal currency for marketability. Across the Fanatics network, Ronaldo also became the biggest merchandise-selling player ever in the 24 hours following a transfer to a new team, pipping the likes of Lionel Messi, Tom Brady and LeBron James – all of whom rank among the top names on this year’s 50MM list. Just an hour after news broke that he would once again be wearing the iconic number seven jersey, sales surpassed the best ever full day for the club’s official merchandise platform. Look no further than the 37-year-old’s high-profile return to Manchester United in the summer of 2021. A trophy-laden career spanning 20 years, deals with global brands and the most-followed person on Instagram: Cristiano Ronaldo’s position at the top of SportsPro’s latest 50 Most Marketable (50MM) Athletes list will raise few eyebrows.įor all of Ronaldo’s achievements on the pitch, be it scooping five Ballon d’Ors or becoming the Uefa Champions League’s top goal scorer, the Portuguese soccer superstar has long carried equal weight off it.
