Cristiano Ronaldo goes to Real Madrid

for £80M after they sign Kaka for £56M.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

For those who don't already know, Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese footballer (soccer) who plays for Manchester United in the UK. Kaka is a Brazilian footballer who has just been sold by AC Milan to Real Madrid.

One hundred and thirty six MILLION pounds for two players. In a recession is this obscene or what?

[Lexur]

It's obscene but the new president of Real Madrid is a genius in business and some serious marketing jobs say the price is just a little bit high (around 6M) and Ronaldo will pay for itself. If CR7 and the other stars make Real Madrid play (wining or not) the Champions League, the whole operation will be covered this season.

Six years ago, Real Madrid did the same game with Figo, Zidane and Beckham and its incomes arose from 100M of euros to 300M in three years. Even more, discounting inflation, Zidane was more expensive than Cristiano Ronaldo.

After all, those numbers are still small regarding the NBA or the NFL. The questions is footbal is becoming global and those with good brands can sell shirts, pay-per-view, tours and so on around the world.

[londrum]

it's not just the 80 million quid they're also paying him £200,000 a week. that's another 10 million for every year he's there.

plus they'll have to pay out a fortune for all his hair gel and fake tan.

[workingNOMAD]

and they'll pay when they have to deal with is tantrums!

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

And in four years time when he decides that the only team he has ever wanted to play for is Barcelona. :)

[foxtunes]

The price does seem crazy, but Real Madrid split image rights with the players. The club are set to make 200-500 million back from endorsements, advertisments, shirt sales etc over the next five to 10 years if Kaka and Ronaldo keep their current high profiles.