Club and fans hope ‘money machine’ Ronaldo will bring revenue and Euro title
IN Italy, it has already been hailed as the “deal of the century” and the biggest coup for the beleaguered Serie A since Diego Maradona was signed by Napoli in 1984.
But is it really a bargain for Juve to pay Real Madrid R1.77bn for 33-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo (pictured), who reportedly will be paid a net yearly salary of R473 million?
“From a financial point of view, it is a very intelligent and – in my opinion – sustainable operation,” Andrea Sartori, global head of sports for accounting firm KPMG, told the ANSA news agency.
Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy’s main business paper, was more sceptical, noting that the transfer represents about a quarter of Juve’s current annual revenue.
Il Sole said financial traders were wondering whether Juve’s debts might jump after the operation, triggering the need for a capital injection.
On the Milan stock exchange, Juve’s stock has risen by almost 30 percent since early July, when the Ronaldo rumours started. But yesterday, it was slumping by almost six percent at around R13.42.
Sartori insisted that Juventus will make more money from merchandising, ticket sales, TV rights and sponsorship deals, and benefit from Ronaldo’s global fame.
For example, there’s room for bigger deals from shirt sponsors, which currently earn Juventus R630m euros per year, compared to about R2.2bn for Barcelona and Real Madrid, the analyst said.
He calculated that Juventus could boost revenues by 1.58-2.05bn per year, starting from the 2019-2020 financial year – provided, of course, that the man known as CR7’s arrival also brings results on the pitch.
The likely sale of a “top player” like Gonzalo Higuain will help balance the books, Sartori added. Il Sole 24 Ore agreed, estimating such a transfer could be worth R947m.
Juventus have won seven consecutive Serie A titles but, in Europe, success has been elusive: They lost the Champions League final to Barcelona in 2015 and to Real in 2017 – with Ronaldo bagging a brace.
With him on board, “Juventus has set its sights on the dream of all Juve fans: winning the world’s biggest competition,” former Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi told the Mediaset broadcaster.
Fabio Capello, another veteran Italian coach, agreed.
“Juve will have economic returns on its investment, Ronaldo is a money machine for himself and his club,” Capello said.
Even Juve rivals welcomed his arrival, with Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentis and Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco saying that they relish the opportunity of having their teams play against the Portuguese champion.
Ronaldo has more than 300 million followers on social networks, including 122 million on Facebook. By comparison, Juventus’ Facebook fanbase stands at 32 million.
Ronaldo’s star power should lift the overall profile of Serie A, which was Europe’s top league in its glory days of the 1980s and 1990s but has since been overtaken by the German, Spanish and English leagues.
“There will be more interest from [sponsors] and people will be more enticed to go to the stadium. No doubt about that,” the head of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), Giovanni Malago, said.
As for Ronaldo, there’s something else: Italy has a special tax regime for wealthy people who move to the country, allowing them to pay a flat fee of R1.57m per year on income earned abroad.
Given that Forbes magazine estimates Ronaldo’s net worth at R1.45bn – factoring in a Nike lifetime sponsorship and other substantial assets – that tax bill looks like another bargain. – dpa