The Champions League final will give the young Norwegian star a chance to further boost his already lucrative endorsement deals
Erling Haaland with sports commentator Alex Scott at an event extending his partnership with the Nike brand
The on-the-pitch opportunity for Erling Haaland in Saturday’s Champions League final is obvious, but it could also prove a springboard for the Norwegian’s burgeoning off-field empire.
Haaland already has deals with Nike, Samsung, Breitling, Viaplay, and Dolce & Gabbana locked up, and a deal with Pretty Little Thing is expected to be announced in the near future. Alongside France’s Kylian Mbappé, the Manchester City star is quickly slotting into position as this generation’s equivalent of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.
Football fans have known what the 22-year-old can do for some time. His move to Borussia Dortmund in 2019, when he was only 18, was followed by three straight seasons in which he averaged close to a goal per game. But it was only after his move to Manchester last summer, when Pep Guardiola’s side beat off the likes of Real Madrid to get his signature, that his potential to become a star who transcended the sport began to be realised.
In the past 12 months, his following on Instagram, a crucial marketing platform for athletes in the modern era, has almost doubled, from just over 15 million to 30 million.
His rise was helped in no small part by his performance on the field. He set a record for the highest number of goals scored by a player in a single Premier League season as City claimed the title in England, with the youngster as their unquestioned star.
The expected global audience for Saturday’s final against Inter Milan is approximately 400 million, and the marketing potential for Haaland, should he perform well, is extraordinary. Yet he wasn’t meant to be in this position quite yet, at least not with this club.
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Haaland’s career has been carefully managed by his personal team, which includes his father, Alf Inge Haaland, a former pro himself, and his agent, Rafael Pimenta. The elder Haaland has focused on maximising the time his son can play at his peak earning potential and through most of his time in Dortmund, it was expected that a move to Real Madrid was the most likely next step for him.
With Real, Haaland would have largely the same potential to reach a global audience as he does with a top Premier League side, but with a typically lighter physical load. The less aggressive nature of play in Spain, as well as fewer games in cup competitions, meant a move to Madrid seemed most likely to enable the Norwegian to stretch out the peak of his career and, with it, his earnings.
A move to England was always in the long-term plan for Haaland, as it offers the highest potential overall for earnings on and off the pitch, but last summer’s move was somewhat ahead of schedule.
With City, Haaland was offered two things beyond his direct salary that no other English club could match: a workload similar to Spain or Germany and the chance to work with Pep Guardiola, arguably the top coach working in football today.
Those two factors combined meant that Haaland and his team felt it was safe to move to England ahead of schedule and start shooting for the stars. The strategy has paid off handsomely.
Haaland’s Nike deal was extended to cover the next 10 years at around €23 million per year. When combined with his Dolce & Gabbana deal, worth over €2 million annually, and the rest of his endorsements, his off-field earnings currently either match or surpass what he makes from his five-year, €113 million contract with City.
There’s room for these earnings to grow significantly and the sponsor to watch is Samsung. At present, his role with the tech giant is confined to the Norwegian market but a starring performance in the biggest football game of the year will surely bring him the potential to operate as a global ambassador for the brand.
That, however, will rely on his personality which, so far, has won him plenty of support. Haaland’s knowing but not over-the-top goofiness makes him comes across as a likeable character.
With social media only growing in importance, that authenticity will likely aid him. Outside of well-known brands, Haaland has limited his involvement in commercial activities.
Last month, he made a rare step into that space, publishing a pair of sponsored posts for Aquafigure, a Norwegian specialised bottle company.
“His brand is too valuable to go down that route heavily,” David McHugh, founder of Line Up Sports, a sports marketing agency, told the Business Post. “Social influencing is hugely sought after in the sports world. Haaland, with the scale of following he has online, has huge value in that respect but it doesn’t mean he will be comfortable with that as a way to generate revenue.
“Getting €20 million or more from Nike, where he only has to do a few outings a year, is far more relevant to an athlete like him than posting once a week for something like Snickers. He’ll do bits and pieces, but it needs to be credible and authentic, otherwise it will be seen through quickly.”
While Haaland’s endorsement deals have an enormous combined value, the amount he is earning by playing for City means he can be more selective than nearly any other sportsperson when choosing partnerships.
“Football is a different space with the amount Haaland is making per week, so that changes how they think about endorsements compared to other athletes who would rely on them more,” McHugh said.
“He’s not a Messi or Ronaldo yet but he’s on that trajectory. Every kid that sees Haaland wearing Nike boots is going to want those boots. What dictates that value is consistent performance at the highest level over time.”
On Saturday, Haaland gets to write another chapter in his story and, with it, potentially open up a new world of financial opportunity.