Why Kaka is worth $100m to Real Madrid « Ruth Mortimer – Brand & Business Blog

Why Kaka is worth $100m to Real Madrid

It seems that while bankers are busy taking abuse for sky-high salaries and bonuses, footballers are escaping the economic gloom. Or at least that’s true for Kaka, who has left Milan to join Real Madrid for around £56m.

But why are these deals, which seem extraordinarily enormous in cash terms, still so popular with clubs? Well, according to Professor Simon Chadwick, who was commissioned by Weber Shandwick Sport to run the figures, the Kaka deal could be worth as much as $100m per year to Real Madrid.

This is because the signing is likely to boost shirt sales, sponsorship revenue, match ticket sales and the team’s global fan base. If Manchester United’s current golden boy Cristiano Ronaldo was to join Kaka at Real Madrid, this could be worth up to an additional $75m a year, should Manchester United sell the current FIFA World Player of the Year – meaning a double-signing could be worth $175m each year for the Spanish club.

What’s Chadwick basing this on? The Becks effect, it seems.

When David Beckham moved to Real Madrid, his tenure at the Santiago Bernabeu earnt the club $600 million in sales of shirts and other merchandise alone (with a million shirts sold in just six months), increasing merchandising profits by 137% over four seasons between 2003/4 and 2006/7.

So perhaps the answer to why footballer transfers are recession-proof is that until these deals no longer offer such potentially fabulous return on investment to clubs, the big bucks are likely to stay in play.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Consumer culture, Reputation, Sponsorship, intellectual property. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Why Kaka is worth $100m to Real Madrid”

Matthew Gilks Says:
June 12, 2009 at 10:51 am | Reply
Unbelievable figures. ‘Brand Beckham’ must be the most lucrative Brand in the world?
Karan Says:
June 20, 2009 at 7:28 pm | Reply
Hi Ruth

Interesting Article !!!

While Manchester United scouting for talent to whom I don’t think Money or Fan base issues haunt one can definitely expect Real Madrid to bid for highly acclaimed players to increase their popularity as an upfront.
Why Kaka worth 100 million to Madrid - a business insight | football tees and designer soccer shirts - cescy Says:
July 5, 2009 at 1:23 pm | Reply
[...] Mortimer, from Marketing Week, wrote this article about why Kaka is worth so much money to Real Madrid. She explained the high sums of money that are [...]

Ruth Mortimer – Business & Brand Blog

The sponsorship of the MTV European Music Awards November 6, 2009

I was lucky enough to attend the MTV European Music Awards last night. There was plenty of brand and marketing activity going on (alongside the parties….) and so here is a quick roundup of the sponsor strategies in Berlin. Sony Ericsson ran its annual “fanwalk”, which saw 100 music fans, whittled down from 7000 applicants, walk [...]

Sorrell predicts an LUV-shaped recession October 30, 2009

Anything Sir Martin Sorrell says tends to make headlines. Today, Sorrell said that he thought the recession would take an “LUV” form. This was a phrase coined by Thomson Reuters correspondent Stella Dawson. But what does “LUV” mean? Dawson suggested there would be an L-shaped recovery for some countries, a U-shaped for others and a fe […]

Kellogg’s and Calvin Harris October 29, 2009

It’s great being a celebrity. Alright, you might have to fend off a few paparazzi and put up with regular tabloid kiss and tells but you also get treated like brand royalty. Yesterday, musician and DJ Calvin Harris posted on his Twitter account about the lovely gift that he was just sent by Kellogg’s. After tweeting [...]

Media140 – has real-time social media got the X factor for brands? October 26, 2009

Thank you to Media140 for having me to speak at their event on real-time social media today. It was a pretty daunting prospect to get up in front of a room full of social media experts, all of whom were sending their every thought on your words and ideas to a massive screen with a [...]

Do Kingsmill Confessions make you want to tell tales? October 23, 2009

There is an brilliant post on CrackUnit.com by Iain Tait about ads he doesn’t like (read it here). He picks up on the current Kingsmill bread campaign, which encourages people to make “confessions”. As Tait points out: “I’m just bursting with a whole bunch of confessions about bread. What on earth are they expecting? If you’re [...] […]

Halloween advertising on the move October 23, 2009

Saw this nice little bus shelter advert today. It uses a comical toy skeleton in 3D trapped between the two panes of plastic. I noticed it not only because as I approached it in the dark morning, its lit-up green exterior really stood out but because it was literally surrounded by children. All staring and [...]

Mattel’s homeless “American Girl” doll causes an outcry October 22, 2009

The Mattel-owned American Girl brand has launched a new doll in its range, but unlike the bland blondes of the Barbies of yesteryear, this one has a twist: “Gwen” is “homeless”. (And she costs $95.) Needless to say, the blogosphere has gone crazy about it. So just who is “Gwen”? Each doll in the American Girl [...]

Music and marketing; what’s going on? October 20, 2009

In my role as an occasional blogger for the MIDEM music business festival, which I have taken part in for the last few years, I have blogged a few stories about the most interesting developments in marketing and music. You can check out my thoughts on how the band Tokio Hotel have gone virtual or [...]

Charmin offers toilet attendants $10,000 October 20, 2009

This is a nice little campaign from toilet paper brand Charmin in the US. The Procter & Gamble owned product is launching a national job search to find five outgoing and enthusiastic people to work in New York City’s Times Square ‘Charmin Restrooms’ this holiday season for a salary of $10,000 each. The five chosen “Charmin [...]

Sport and smoking? October 16, 2009

An interesting coverwrap on Sport magazine today. It takes the form of the outside of a cigar and shows readers where to roll up the magazine to make it resemble a large cigar, with a “label” bearing the name of the sponsor, Intercasino. Now, I’m not suggesting that Intercasino or Sport are trying to advertise tobacco [...]

Ruth Mortimer – Brand & Business Blog – Marketing Week