Why elite athletes matter beyond the pitch

Ekaterina Koll

Elite football stars have a much greater impact beyond the pitch, as they are instantly recognizable sporting celebrities with colossal social media presences. They are role models for their followers and serve as vicarious role models for fellow athletes, from grassroots level to elite level, as well as for passionate and casual football supporters.

From a corporate perspective, elite athletes and sportsmen enhance the brand equity of the sponsoring company by serving as brand ambassadors for their products, whether it is a commodity product or an elite product or service.

One of the most successful athletes to have leveraged his image rights is Sir David Beckham, the former captain of England. Although successful on the field, he has amassed a fortune, with assets worth over $1.5 billion, including and beyond football. For the 2022 Qatar World Cup, he was the brand ambassador for the country. Beckham’s high profile began before the social media revolution, and the next generation of playing legends, such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, have leveraged digital media to amass similar fortunes and influence.

For example, Cristiano Ronaldo has a colossal and powerful global media presence, which is both an opportunity and a threat to the corporate world. The opportunities of brand association with such a celebrity are obvious. A summary of Ronaldo’s social media presence is shown below.

The negative aspect was Ronaldo’s move to remove the Coke bottle from the press desk and urge fans to drink water instead. This move temporarily caused a $2 billion fall in the market capitalization of the Coca-Cola brand. The fact that Coca-Cola is also one of the largest bottled water suppliers, with Dasani being one of the Coca-Cola Company’s portfolio brands, made no difference. Ronaldo’s actions aligned with his values, as he has mentioned that he does not like his son to drink soft drinks, and he is a major investor in and brand ambassador for the WHOOP brand, which provides wearable computers to help elite athletes and casual gym users manage their health and wellbeing. WHOOP is one of a number of emerging health and wellbeing companies, and its anticipated initial public offering is set to value the company at $10 billion.

Generation Z fans and customers are much more health-conscious and are taking action to focus on their health. Health is also a major concern for governments, as unhealthy lifestyles lead to chronic, preventable diseases, which are a major burden for governments in terms of long-term treatment.

Lionel Messi is another influential elite football star who holds the record for winning eight Ballon d’Or awards and is the captain of the Argentine national team, who are the current champions and, in a thrilling match held this month, led his team to the final again. Messi has been a prominent brand ambassador in the MENA region through his association with Turkish Airlines and famously donned a bisht when he held aloft the World Cup trophy in the Qatar 2022 World Cup final. His influence has driven massive engagement with the sport in the Gulf region, and he is currently the brand ambassador for Saudi Arabia, the host of the 2034 World Cup, where his role is to promote global tourism in the region and enhance the country’s soft power as it diversifies its economy away from fossil fuels.

Dr Ekaterina Koll is an Assistant Professor at Zayed University.