The World's Highest-Paid Soccer Players

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The World's Highest-PaidSoccer 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

(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

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

I focus on the business of sports.



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.

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

10 Highest Earning Players

1 of 21

(http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlh45eel/no-

1-david-

beckham/)

Getty Images

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)



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/cristiano-

ronaldo/) 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



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-soccer-

players/#gallerycontent)

Follow me on my blog (http://blogs.forbes.com/christinasettimi/) and on

Twitter (http://twitter.com/#/csettimi)

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The World's Highest-Paid Soccer Players

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