The €500 million in Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract with Al Nassr, the largest in football history, is starting to look like a bargain compared to the millions of euros in potential commercial returns. The Ronaldo effect in Saudi Arabia is measured in media coverage and multimillion-dollar profits for an entire universe of businesses centered around the club and football in the country. Only the sale of jerseys and television rights will already have exceeded the contract value. Impressive considering that only a month has passed since the Portugal international was presented by Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia on January 3.
Dunes. Is this the brand name Made in Saudi Arabia of sporting goods that started competing a month ago with the giants Nike (sponsor CR7 since 2003), Adidas or New Balance. The company claims to be “proudly Saudi”, innovative and pioneering, with a focus on comfort. A sports t-shirt from the brand costs between 57 and 62 euros, but the Al Nassr shirt costs between 75 and 92 euros, increasing depending on the requested print (with the number 7 and Ronaldo’s name). A national team jersey with the Nike brand costs 89.99 euros on the website of the Portuguese Football Federation.
After green-white (Sporting), red (Manchester United), white (Real Madrid) and white-black (Juventus), bright yellow is the new favorite color for Ronaldo fans. In Riyadh, fans line up to buy Al Nassr kits with the number 7 on the back. Of the four outfits, yellow is the most requested. According to a report from the Marca newspaper in Riyadh, around the time of the Spanish Super Cup, the club’s official store sells 400 copies on a bad day.
The truth is that in just over a month – it was announced on December 30 – CR7 has already sold 2.5 million jerseys, for a total of more than 230 million euros (almost half the value of the contract it signed to). 2025 signed).
36 countries bought games
The arrival of the Portuguese in Riyadh aroused interest in the unknown football championship in Saudi Arabia. a Saudi sports company owns the rights to call Saudi Pro League (SPL) for self-consumption. And yesterday, the company announced that it had extended the contracts until 2025, the date on which Cristiano’s contract with Al Nassr expires.
also the IMG, the leading event broadcaster operating in more than 30 countries, announced a few days ago that it has signed an agreement to sell the SPL’s international broadcasting rights to 36 countries in the West. Rights for the Middle East and Africa were acquired by being into sports for 74.4 million euros.
a IMG had already invested in CR7 before buying the rights to the Italian league, between 2018 and 2021. And it was through IMG Portuguese Sport TV acquired the rights to broadcast Al Nassr’s matches in the championship, and also last four of the Super Cup (won by Al Ittihad, coached by Nuno Espírito Santos) and the friendly match which was Ronaldo’s debut match against Lionel Messi’s PSG. Better promotion was impossible. If the stadium only has a capacity of 25 to 30 thousand supporters, then television will bring Ronaldo around the world and today there is one more match to see the star in action – against Al Fateh (15.00, Sport TV).
Sponsors also earn
Sponsors happily rub their hands (at least until they’re forced to renegotiate agreements). The best example of this is Shurfah, a company with public and private capital, which suddenly saw its name appear on all televisions, newspapers, websites and social networks worldwide, stamped on the shirt of Al Nassr, as the main sponsor of the club.. The company’s official website states that it is a family-owned business, despite its considerable size, presence in 15 countries and 45 sub-companies associated with the real estate, hospitality, industrial and technology sectors. They tried to break into the German market and suddenly they got a booster called CR7.
The same media turmoil occurred at other companies associated with the club or the Saudi Arabia Football Federation (SAFF), such as Lebara (telecommunications), Harry’s Pizza (catering), the hospital chain Care and Qiddiya, a company associated with entertainment. Arabia. Each in his own dimension found a storefront he never thought he would have. All because the club they sponsored bet on one of the best players in football history, who is also a money machine off the pitch.
The first sign of the massive impact of the hiring was on social networks. Al Nassr’s Instagram had 834,000 followers on the day the Portuguese player was announced, gaining three million in 24 hours. Yesterday it had 12.7 million followers and the publication reporting the transfer surpassed 34 million likes. A small part of the potential of CR7, the biggest personality on Instagram, with 547 million followers.
And if travel agencies in many European countries are now including Riyadh in their vacation packages, Saudi agencies are already selling trips to Portugal and promoting Lisbon and Ronaldo’s native Madeira as destinations. An example of the return on marketing and publicity, which seems gigantic and ultra-secret, like everything surrounding the Portuguese’s journey to Riyadh. Official and reliable information is scarce. DN tried to find out the immediate impact of CR7’s signing, but the club was unavailable to speak.
Jewel of the Vision 2030 project
Ronaldo is the latest sporting jewel in Saudi Arabia, a country that in 2016 – the year Portugal became European champion – initiated a plan to restructure the economy to become less dependent on oil revenues. This project was named Vision 2030.
The purchase of Newcastle, the host of the Italian and Spanish Super Cups, F1, the Dakar and Golf, as well as the host of the 2027 Asian Cup of Nations and the intention to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup and an Olympic Games in the next decade part of the plan to overthrow Qatar and Dubai as a hub for global business and sporting events.
Yesterday, the president of the association, Yasser Almisehal, was elected to the FIFA executive committee.
Source: DN
