SOCCER
Cristiano Ronaldo outsells Leo Messi two to one in shirts with a record £187m
The new Manchester United star will debut this weekend when his team plays Newcastle Unite
The Premier League is back in action this weekend, right after the World Cup Qualifiers games come to an end. For the Red Devils, this means that Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo will be back in action at Old Trafford after twelve years.
But bosses at Manchester are not only happy to see CR7 step on the green and start scoring goals, but according to LovetheSales.com, sales of the Madeira native have skyrocketed to a whopping £187m since his comeback to the team. The site is a global shopping marketplace specializing in tracking sales data from over 1,000 retailers worldwide.
The data acquired from sales on more than 1000 global retailers found that online searches for the 'Ronaldo 7 shirt' increased by 600%, resulting in 25% of all official kit sellers being sold out or near to sold out of Manchester United shirts.
Love The Sales also states that twice as many Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester shirts are being sold compared to Leo Messi's PSG.
From the data collected by Love The Sales, the site has claimed that United has recouped their investment on the player in just his shirt sales
Dr. Dan Plumley, a senior lecturer in sport finance at Sheffield Hallam University, United's commission from sales could be 5% to 7%. However, while the contract details with Adidas are kept secret, Plumley explains that "it's very unlikely that that would ever be above 10%." The deal made in 2018 is the biggest ever, with a payout of £750m to United over ten years.
The fee paid by Manchester to bring Ronaldo back from Juventus is a reported £12.9m, or €15m to be exact, taking into account the above mention percentages, Love The Sales claims that United has netted £13.1m or €15,2m in revenue.
The Cristiano effect
The Portuguese has the fastest-selling shirt in Premier League history and is currently the most sold shirt of any team. United's rivals Machester City's new signing Jack Grealish has the second-highest sold shirt of the league.
A study by KPMG on the most viral post by both United and PSG after their announced deals shows 13m likes for the Red Devils and 9m for the Paris team. A clear statement that these two players dominate the football world.