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Cristiano Ronaldo And Lionel Messi Rule The World, But Not The U.S.

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Real Madrid and FC Barcelona square off for the sixth time this season on Saturday in the latest version of the Clasico. The match pits the widely regarded two best players in the world against each other inCristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Most soccer fans give Messi the edge, and his four straight Player of the Year awards offer plenty of ammunition for his supporters. Off the pitch, the two are neck and neck when it comes to marketability. They are the biggest stars in the world’s most popular sport. Ronaldo (55 million) and Messi (43 million) have by far the most Facebook fans of any athlete. They are global icons who ranked No. 9 (Ronaldo) and No. 11 (Messi) in our June look at the world’s highest-paid athletes.

Forbes estimated Messi’s annual endorsement earnings at $19 million in June from Adidas, PepsiCo, Electronic Arts, Herbalife and others. His total earnings were $39 million. Messi has since added to his endorsement portfolio with Turkish Airways and Procter & Gamble to promote Head & Shoulders. He also inked a contract extension with Barca last month that will keep him in Spain through 2018.We pegged Ronaldo’s earnings at $22 million off the pitch ($42.5 million overall) thanks to lucrative deals with the likes of Nike, Castrol, Konami and Clear Shampoo. His top sponsor is Nike, which pays him a base of $8 million year. He expanded his reach in December when he became a brand ambassador for Lisbon-based mobile marketing start-up Mobitto.
Yet for all their wealth and fame, Messi and Ronaldo have still not broken through in the U.S. market. “Messi and Ronaldo have already captured the attention of moderate to avid sports fans in the States,” says Matt Fleming, director of celebrity talent at the Marking Arm. “The challenge now is crossing over from the soccer community to the mainstream population. That hasn’t happened yet because of the lack of exposure and coverage of their sport in comparison to the major U.S. sports.”
The Marketing Arm tracks the awareness and appeal of celebrities in the U.S. through their Davie Brown Index, which is based on polling of consumers. The stature in the U.S. of Messi and Ronaldo is stunning considering their global standing.
Messi was known by less than 20% of U.S. consumers as of March 2012, according to the Marketing Arm. His awareness scores are on par with Texas Rangers’ pitcher Yu Darvish, Dallas Mavericks guard O.J. Mayo and ESPN personality Trey Wingo. Ronaldo is at 30% and similar to college football’s Steve Spurrier, retired golfer Gary Player and soccer star Abby Wambach.
“Messi and Ronaldo are making ESPN’s Top 10 from time to time, but they are still a long way from dominating the sports news like the biggest stars of the NFL, NBA and MLB do,” says Fleming.
The two soccer stars are well regarded among their U.S. fans with 85% saying they like Messi to some degree, which is similar to ESPN’s Chris Berman, NBA forward Kevin Garnett and actor Jonah Hill. Ronaldo is lower at 80% likability and ranks alongside fellow sportsmen Rob Gronkowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Chipper Jones.
Messi and Ronaldo both rank best in DBI’s “Endosement” attribute (other attributes include Breakthrough, Trendsetter, Influence, Trust and Aspiration). Messi is in the top 150 out of 2,800 celebrities and similar to George Clooney and Rory McIlroy. Ronaldo ranks No. 357 in the category—on par with Matt Damon, Derek Jeter and Anderson Cooper (Messi’s lower awareness levels tend to boost his attribute scores because those who know him are more likely to be his fans).
Sports sponsorship spending in North America is expected to increase 6% this year to $13.8 billion, according to sponsorship consultant IEG. Companies continue to pour money into sports despite challenging economic times.
Ronaldo and Messi are obviously well-paid off the pitch, but they need to break through in the U.S.—home to the most marketing dollars—in order to reach the endorsement levels of Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Roger Federer and David Beckham. These athletes all make at least $40 million from sponsors annually.

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