Traditionally, football (soccer) clubs make money from the ticket sales; their main product is the actual football match. As the sport evolves over time, a variety of merchandise becomes available for fans to purchase and lucrative TV deals becomes one of the club’s main revenue stream. Nowadays footballers are no longer just players for these clubs, they have become the celebrities of the sporting world. Some footballer like David Beckham have gone even further – more people around the world recognize him than the Queen of England! The Marketing power that Beckham posesses is extraordinary. When he was playing for Manchester United he helped the club became one of the most recognizable sporting brand in the world. He boosted Real Madrid’s fan base in Asia by more than 50% when he moved there. Finally, when he came to play for Los Angeles Galaxy he raised the interest in this sport immensely in North America and also the profile of the Major League Soccer to the rest of the world.
Due to the marketing power that superstar like David Beckham has, footballers nowadays have ridiculous transfer price. Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid for a world record price of 70 million pounds!! Some might think that this is way too much for one footballer, but is it? Think about all the marketing power that comes with him. As a matter of fact, Real Madrid sold more than 70 million pounds worth of merchandise that is associated with Cristiano Ronaldo within the first year he was there.