Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the great football rivalries but who comes out on top in terms of bank balance?
Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo.
Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the great football rivalries even if they no longer have as many head to head clashes but who comes out on top in terms of bank balance?
HOW RICH IS LIONEL MESSI: NET WORTH IN 2023
Argentina and Paris Saint Germain star Lionel Messi is among the highest-paid athletes in the world.
Messi earned more than $130 million in 2022 alone with much of that income coming from endorsements.
For a long time Messi was synonymous with Barcelona, although that relationship would sour.
In January 2021 it was leaked that Messi’s contract with the club had been much more lucrative than originally thought.
He was able to make as much as $165 million per season on his final deal with Barcelona.
Messi reportedly ‘only’ earns $41 million per season under his current PSG deal, signed in August 2021 when he made the decision to leave Catalunya. However, these figures have not been verified and the Argentina star might well make far more when performance incentives are accounted for.
Lionel Messi back to Barca?
He has a lifelong sponsorship deal with German sports apparel manufacturer Adidas.
Messi also enjoys commercial partnerships with Anheuser-Busch InBev, Cirque du Soleil, Gatorade, Hard Rock Cafe Inc., Konami, Mastercard, Ooredoo, Pepsi, Socios.com and YPF.
NET WORTH IN 2023
According to the latest estimates, the net worth of Lionel Messi sits at $620 million in 2023.
Messi was the highest-paid sportsman in the world in 2022 and according to reliable sources has earned over $1.3 billion across his career to date.
Barcelona are reportedly willing to break the bank to bring Messi back to Spain, with that speculation dominating headlines recently.
Nike are believed to be just one of the Barcelona backers who are eager for the club to restore their famous No 10.
Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo claims sources from the board of Joan Laporta’s predecessor as Barcelona chairman Josep Bartomeu, say that Messi brought €250-300 million ($274-329 million) into the club in the form of merchandising, ticketing and sponsorship revenue.
HOW RICH IS CRISTIANO RONALDO: NET WORTH IN 2023
Cristiano Ronaldo is without a doubt a huge star and perhaps the best player of the modern age depending on who you ask.
We aren’t going to dive into the GOAT debate right now though.
ONE OF FOOTBALL’S BIGGEST STARS
Instead, we will look at how much money Cristiano Ronaldo has raked in over the years.
Al-Nassr’s new Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (C-L), his partner Georgina Rodriguez (C-R) and his children stand on the stage during his unveiling at the Mrsool Park Stadium in the Saudi capital Riyadh on January 3, 2023. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP)
Ronaldo is possibly the most marketable sports star in the world given his abilities and his appearance.
He is a social media drawcard like no other having become the first person in the world to reach 500 million followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Back in 2020, Ronaldo became the first active team-sport athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings.
HOW MUCH DOES CRISTIANO RONALDO EARN
Ronaldo was among the best-paid athletes in the world in 2022, and that was before his move to Saudi Arabia.
He banked somewhere in the region of $115 million through 2021 into 2022.
Ronaldo had taken a pay cut to rejoin Manchester United dropping from a $34 million per to $27 million per year.
However, he has now made up for that dip in earnings by taking on a mega-money deal at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
At Al Nassr, Ronaldo is set to be paid an incredible $77 million per year just for playing football.
Ronaldo’s yearly earnings are set to swell to somewhere in the region $215 million.
HOW RICH IS CRISTIANO RONALDO: NET WORTH
According to the latest data from Forbes, Cristiano Ronaldo has a staggering net worth of more than $500 million.
Ronaldo has a lifetime sponsorship deal with Nike that is worth a huge amount of money and also a number of other investments, endorsements and commercial partnerships.
His other main sponsors are Delivery Hero, Herbalife, MTG, and Unilever.