Cristiano Ronaldo loses No. 1 spot and slips to 27th as Lionel Messi crowned new leader of most marketable athletes worldwide
Lionel Messi has displaced Cristiano Ronaldo as the world's most marketable athlete according to SportsPro Media.
The sports business outlet have released a list of the top 50 marketable athletes for 2023 and Messi has finished top for the second time in his career. Ronaldo finished first last year but he's not even made the top 10 this time around.
Lionel Messi finished top of the 2020 rankings and has done so again following his groundbreaking move to MLS side Inter Miami. The 2022 FIFA World Cup winner's contract with the Herons includes earning profits garnered from merchandise sales.
The 36-year-old also has a deal in place with Apple which are the streaming service for MLS matches, per Mirror. They have released a four-part documentary detailing Messi's heroic World Cup triumph in Qatar last year.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo has fallen all the way down to 27th in the top 50 most marketable athletes list. The five-time UEFA Champions League winner left Europe in January for Saudi Pro League giants Al-Nassr. The 38-year-old had finished top last year while at Premier League heavyweights Manchester United.
The only men's footballer to reach the top 10 is Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe who sits ninth. Other football stars that have reached the top 50 include:
Bayern Munich's Harry Kane (22), Arsenal's Bukayo Saka (26), Al-Hilal's Neymar (31), Gremio's Luis Suarez (32), Manchester City's Erling Haaland (33), Chelsea's Thiago Silva (34), Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung Min (36), Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (39), Manchester United's Marcus Rashford (40).
USWNT legends Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe represent women's football in third and fifth place respectively.
Here's the top 10 list of the most marketable athletes in the world:
- Lionel Messi
- LeBron James
- Alex Morgan
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Megan Rapinoe
- Mikaela Shiffrin
- Lewis Hamilton
- Simone Biles
- Kylian Mbappe
- Max Verstappen
Harry Kane uses Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as examples of players flourishing in their thirties
Harry Kane has mentioned Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as players who perhaps improved when reaching their thirties. The England captain alluded to the fact that they are settled in their home lives (via GOAL):
"When you look at a lot of the top-level players - Ronaldo, Messi, [Robert] Lewandowski, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic — they have almost got better as they hit 30. In a lot of sports that happens as well. Everything is maybe settled in your personal life. You have got family, you have got kids — so that side is all settled."
Cristiano Ronaldo continues to turn back the years at Al-Nassr, bagging 11 goals and six assists in 11 games across competitions this season. He's won the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month for August and September.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi has made a scintillating start to life at Inter Miami in the MLS. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner has bagged 11 goals and five assists in five games across competitions, winning the Leagues Cup in August.