For his image rights, Cristiano Ronaldo agreed to a contract with Singaporean businessman Peter Lim back in 2015, know about what are image rights in football and their meaning
The modern sports sector places a high value on image rights. More than 3% of all trade in the world today is related to sports.
The Olympic Games, Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup, and other major sporting events all generate large sums of money. However, player image rights are also quite important in addition to that.
What are image rights in sports and football and contract meaningย
๐ฐ Cristiano Ronaldo earned the most amount of money from Instagram last year, earning more from Instagram than his Juventus' salary. pic.twitter.com/gXkzI32kuo
— The CR7 Timeline. (@TimelineCR7) November 19, 2020
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most well-known players in football, for example.
Ronaldo has more than 550 million followers on Instagram. Due to his immense fame, Ronaldo makes a sizable profit from his image rights.
Sources claim that Ronaldo earned more money in 2019 from Instagram than from Juventus, his former team.
What are player image rights?
Football players used to receive payment from the teams to participate in the sport.
Image rights, however, are becoming more significant as a new era of commercialization gets underway.
The phrase “using the expression “image” not in its narrow sense of “likeness” but in its wider sense of “persona” or “brand,” to use a marketing term,” is an imprecise definition of image rights.
Lionel Messi's first season at Paris Saint-Germain has generated โฌ700m through image rights, marketing and matchday income. Messi's arrival brought ten new sponsorship contracts and broke records regarding shirt sales, surpassing a million sold for the first time. pic.twitter.com/QUs9j8V9TM
— Football Espaรฑa (@footballespana_) June 24, 2022
To further clarify, a football player’s image rights are their exclusive rights that forbid other brands and businesses from using their name, likeness, or signature to market or advertise their own goods.
Image rights restrict brands from doing so illegally because they can reap significant financial rewards by influencing football stars to sell their products.
These rights may be owned by the players themselves or by their teams. Image deals with their players are usually divided among football teams.
For instance, the initial 50-50 agreement between Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo was later replaced with a 60-40 one.
Additionally, unaffiliated companies may on occasion acquire a player’s image rights. Paulo Dybala’s image rights have been acquired by a company called “Star Image.”
Why did Ronaldo sell his image rights?
In 2015, Cristiano Ronaldo and Singaporean business magnate Peter Lim inked a contract for Cristiano Ronaldo’s image rights, excluding any rights produced by his club.
MINT Media’s owner, Lim, is in charge of making all choices relating to the brand partnerships for the Portuguese star.
Therefore, any business wishing to use Ronaldo’s name or image must enter into negotiations with Peter Lim’s business.
Cristiano Ronaldo has sold his image rights to Mint Media, owned by Singaporean tycoon and Valencia owner Peter Lim. pic.twitter.com/gL7s6Fv37m
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 29, 2015
The Al-Nassr star had signed a 6-year deal with MINT Media for an undisclosed fee.
Did Cristiano Ronaldo trademark his name?
Due to his success, Cristiano Ronaldo has emerged as one of the most recognisable brands in the world.
Over the years, Ronaldo has invested a lot of money in a range of companies. Ronaldo owns the hotel chain called Pestana CR7. The former Manchester United star now runs Cristiano Ronaldo Fragrance in addition to his fashion brand (CR7).
Ronaldo is the owner of several trademarks as a result of his well-known brand. According to reports, โCristiano Ronaldo,โ โCR7,โ โCristiano Ronaldo CR7,โ โCristiano Ronaldo,โ and โCristianoronaldo Legacy,โ all belong to Ronaldo.