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Football: From Cruyff to Cristiano – the boot deal bonanza
PARIS, Dec 23, 2017 (BSS/AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and the
rest of the world’s top footballers may earn eye-popping salaries but the
sums they make from long-running boot deals can be equally astounding.
In July 2017 the new face of French football, Kylian Mbappe, pursued by
Europe’s elite clubs, caused a frenzy of excitement by announcing on Twitter
he had a big announcement to make.
Would he choose Real Madrid? Paris Saint-Germain?
But what the 19-year-old actually had to announce was that he was
extending a deal he first signed with Nike at the age of 13.
And within weeks he had moved on loan from Monaco to PSG, who are also
sponsored by Nike.
It’s not just a case of lacing up the customised boots and picking up the
fat cheques though — the high earners are brand ambassadors and have
stringent public relations commitments.
“It’s not like having a job and being an employee working for an
employer,” explains image rights specialist Frank Hocquemiller.
“But with a sponsorship deal there come certain obligations. If you have
signed a deal with Adidas, Nike or Puma, it means they have bought your image
rights.
“It comes with a certain amount of public relations requirements and
social network management.” – Harnessing Instagram –
The aim of sportswear companies is clear — raising visibility for their
product, and they believe paying millions is worth it.
“The sportswear companies are investing more and more money and they want
a return,” explains Kevin Geoffroy from Footpack.fr, a sportswear news site.
So Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat accounts of the stars are harnessed by
the sportswear giants to push their product.
Arsenal and Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil recently advertised Adidas on
his Instagram account, where he pointed out he had a paid relationship with
the German brand. That pay is reportedly in the region of œ3.7 million (4.19
million euros) a year.
Most top players have similar deals. France and Manchester United
midfielder Paul Pogba recently signing a muti-year deal with Adidas worth a
reported 40 million euros.
David Beckham retired in 2013, but continues to plug Adidas products and
his celebrity lifestyle plays perfectly into the current sportswear trends.
So out with the football boots, in with the black Adidas tracksuits for the
arrival lounge at Los Angeles’ LAX airport.
No prizes for guessing that Real Madrid’s Ronaldo enjoys the most
lucrative soccer boot deal in history, with his contract with Nike thought to
be worth œ6.2 million a year.
To give an idea of the bidding war that pushes up the value of these
contracts, the current Nice and former Manchester City and Liverpool striker
Mario Balotelli put pen to paper with Puma ahead of the 2014 World Cup for a
rumoured œ5.1 million per year. The Italian’s career has had so many stops
and starts since, it is doubtful he still earns anywhere near that sum.
– Cruyff fine line –
Using footballers to promote products is nothing new. In the 1930s Andre
Abegglen, the Swiss centre-forward at French club Sochaux, launched his own
footwear brand with the slogan: “For a good worker, good tools, to a good
footballer, good boots.”
There have always been clashes of interest too.
Dutch great Johan Cruyff would only play for his national side if they
took off one of the three Adidas stripes from his shirt as he had signed with
French brand Le Coq Sportif.
He would later sign with Puma, and picked up one of his Ballon d’Or awards
with the brand’s logo emblazoned on the pocket of his dinner jacket.
In France’s 1998 World Cup win, coach Aime Jacquet narrowly avoided a
players’ strike from disgruntled players baulking at wearing Adidas boots for
the national team because of their own private deals. The players won that
World Cup wearing Adidas, but ever since they have been able to wear what
they want.
Another anecdote from the France set-up suggests however that for the 2014
official World
Cup team photo, regardless of height, only players wearing Nike boots were
allowed to sit in the front row — because Les Bleus’ shirts are made by the
US giant.
BSS/AFP/MRI/0855 hrs