Khaberni - With over a billion cumulative followers across all social media platforms, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo reigns supreme in the digital world.
The successful forward for Saudi Al-Nassr -who is followed by over 666 million people on Instagram- has turned this immense influence into a real business empire.
Harry Hugo, former president of the Sport Lobster app, recently revealed the astonishing rise in the prices of photo fees and posts on the accounts of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
About 10 years ago, the app entered into an annual partnership with "the Portuguese Don" for 250,000 pounds (about 300,000 euros), which included about 30 posts on his social media accounts, an amount that seems modest today.
A single post worth about one million euros
In fact, the price of a single Ronaldo post is one million pounds (1.15 million euros), which is almost the same as the price of a TV photo session (about 1.2 million euros). This stunning increase is a testament to the player's marketing power, now collaborating with prestigious brands such as Whoop, Herbalife, and UFL.
The effectiveness of these partnerships is well-established
During the Sport Lobster era, each post generated about two thousand app downloads. With his followers having increased more than sixfold since then, the impact of Ronaldo's posts has grown, justifying the huge rates that make him one of the most attractive personalities on social media platforms.
Ronaldo has achieved a historic milestone off the soccer field, having become the first billionaire in the world of football.
According to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index estimates, the net worth of the former star of Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Juventus is 1.4 billion dollars, an estimate achieved thanks to his recent contract extension with Saudi Al-Nassr.
