Soccer Endorsement Deals

Image credit above goes to Chelsea FC of course.

The king of endorsement deals is Cristiano Ronaldo.

David Beckham
The new member of the La Galaxy has a deal with Gillette razors global brand that pays him close to $10 million. Beckham also has more endorsements than any other player in the game, including deals with Motorola, Adidas, PepsiCo, Vodafone, retailer Marks & Spencer of Britain and Siemens, this according to Forbes. I’m guessing this list will grow as he makes his way to the states in the fall.

Becks name also got an unnecessary boost with the release of the 2002 movie, “Bend it Like Beckham”, about a girl in England who is a budding soccer star and has a poster of the Englishmen on her wall.

Freddy Adu
Adu’s multi-year deal with Nike is worth only $1 million, he was just 14 years old when he signed with Nike and the MLS. But compare that to some of the deals in the NBA or NFL. His annual income rose to $3 million with the Nike and then a Pepsi deal. Only $500,000 of that coming from his MLS salary. Marketing Evaluations, which does the Q score rankings, a reference for advertisers to gauge the popularity or appeal of an athlete or an actor, give Adu a high ranking with the 12-17 year old age bracket. Just the ones that are buying new shoes. Adu has also appeared on American television, most notably “60 Minutes” and David Letterman’s “The Late Show.”

Clint Dempsey
With support from Nike and hip hop stars, Big Hawk, XO, and Da Beatzsmith, Dempsey has written a song as part of the Nike campaign, “Don’t Tread on Me,” whose goal is to increase soccer awareness in America. Dempsey’s transfer to Fulham was worth $4 million, a Major League Soccer record.

Mia Hamm
Mia Hamm, has a Nike shoe contract and work with Gatorade help bring her an estimated $2 million in off-field income. She is now retired from the game. Tennis stars like Hingis and Kournikova earn between $11 million and $15 million each year from their endorsement deals. Serena Williams’s total endorsement earnings are estimated around $6 million a year.

Thierry Henry
Henry, the Arsenal star, is now wearing Reebok shoes, which was just bought by Adidas. The endorsement deal is said to exceed the £9 million, five-year contract that Henry held with Nike. Ryan Giggs also wears Reebok boots.

Henry also shares endorsement deals with such non-soccer celebrities as rapper Jay-Z, basketball star Yao Ming, actress Christina Ricci, and baseball pitcher Curt Schilling for the anti-racism campaign titled, “I am what I am.” Henry has also starred in Nike’s Joga Bonito ads.

Henry also has a new campaign for Tommy Hilfiger, where he will act as the male face of the Tommy brand, and all the proceeds will go to his charity, The One 4 All Foundation. More recently, Gillette became an Henry endorsed product, and I’m sure you’ve seen the Gillette commercials with Henry, Woods, and tennis star Roger Federer. Additionally, Henry has the Stand Up Speak Up program, which aims to fight racism.

Juergen Klinsmann
Klinsmann is a spokesperson for Adidas, and therefore participates in major coaching seminars, workshops, and conventions related to soccer development. He is also “Global Spokesperson” for MasterCard. Klinsmann now appears to have signed on with ESPN as a commentator.

Michael Owen
Owen is one of the highest paid soccer players, with an annual income topping in around $58 million. He’s sponsored by the likes of luxury car manufacturer Jaguar and prestigious Swiss watch company Tissot. He can also be seen in ads for Domino’s Pizza, Asda, Accurist, Umbro, and Northern Rock.

Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho can be seen everywhere! He has several endorsement contracts with such international companies as Nike, Pepsi, Groupe Danone, Cadbury Schweppes, ASPIRE, and Lenovo. He’ also endorsed by at least eight Bralizian brands such as Kibon.

Also, Ronaldinho can be found on the cover of Electronic Arts games FIFA Soccer 06, FIFA 07, and FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup. He’s accompanied by Freddy Adu, Omar Bravo, and Wayne Rooney. Although Ronaldinho has surpassed David Beckham as the most marketable player in the world (Ronaldinho earns $57.8m annually), he still trails Beckham in estimated yearly income.

Wayne Rooney
Rooney has lucrative contracts with Nike, Nokia, Ford, Asda, and Coca Cola. It’s estimated that his marketing value clocks in at roughly $59.8 million, which makes him the third-highest rated soccer player, only surpassed by Ronaldinho and David Beckham.

Zinedine Zidane
Zidane has enjoyed several sponsorship deals with such companies as Adidas, Lego, Groupe Danone, Generali, France Telecom, Orange, Audi, Ford, and Christian Dior. These sponsorship deals have earned him $11.2 million on top of his $8.3 million Real Madrid salary in the 2005-06 season. This makes him the sixth highest paid soccer player, and in 2004, Forbes magazine named him the 42nd highest paid athlete in the world with combined earnings totaling $15.8 million annually.

Jozy Altidore
Is he better than Adu? He just might be and didn’t have to endure all the pressure. Jozy Altidore now has his own commercial. The Adidas commercial depicts Altidore playing against cartoon characters and he talks about how he had to play in a higher age group when he was younger because he kicked the ball so hard. Playing in that higher age bracket might just have been the best thing for him. The star of the Red Bulls received the ESPN Next Award and is well on his way.

*Nike sponsored eight teams in the World Cup. Half the players in the World Cup Final had Nike shoes on their feet.

*The Q-Score is a way to gauge the value or fame of a brand, celebrity, sports figure, movie or show. The better the Q-Score, then the more known or respected the brand or individual. These scores can ebb and flow based upon the influence of a figure and their activities. Winning the World Cup or an Oscar, or say getting caught in a scandal, can boost or lower this score.

They say any news is good news. This is true to an extent, but, obviously this depends on the news. Zidane, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, and already well known, was introduced to a new audience in some ways after the head butting incident in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Marketing companies use this score as a way to determine whether this figure or brand will represent their product well and attract people to their brand or product–a way to get their brand or product in front of more and more eyeballs and ears.