It was just a rumor last week and it now appears to be official: Cristiano Ronaldo has apparently just agreed to a 2.5-year, 500 million Euro offer to join the Saudi club Al Nassr. The deal reportedly includes a signing bonus and covers all financial incentives related to his image being used in advertising for the team. The deal, which is worth $535 million in USD, makes Cristiano the highest-paid athlete in the world by a mile. On a per season basis, Cristiano’s per-season salary starting next year will be…
$210 million
(OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images)
Largest Sports Contracts Of All Time
In terms of total contract value, $525 million is not actually the largest sports contract of all time. That record still belongs to Lionel Messi from when he operated under a 4-year, $674 million deal during his time at Barcelona between 2017 and 2021. Ronaldo’s new deal is the second largest contract of all time in terms of total value.
At $210 million per season, Ronaldo’s deal does does smash the record in terms of average earnings per season. Under that 4-year, $674 million Barcelona deal, Lionel Messi’s average salary per season was $168.5 million.
The next-largest per season average? Patrick Mahomes’ at $41.9 million, which he earns thanks to a 10-year $503 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Unbelievably, Cristiano’s new deal is actually a bit better than was previously rumored. Last week when we reported on this theoretical deal, the per season average was rumored to be $207 million.
Al Nassr plays in the Saudi Professional League. Teams play 30 games per season. So, in essence, Cristiano will earn $7 million PER GAME.
Here are some other ways to contextualize the size of this deal:
- At $210 million, Cristiano will earn Michael Jordan’s entire cumulative NBA career earnings in a little over 5 and a half months.
- At $210 million, he will earn $17.5 million PER MONTH
- At $210 million, he will earn $575,000 PER DAY
Perhaps most importantly, as we predicted in our previous coverage, this contract should finally boost Cristiano’s net worth above Messi’s net worth. We currently estimate Cristiano Ronaldo’s net worth to be $500 million, vs. Messi’s $600 million net worth.
Interestingly, Lionel Messi also just signed a record-breaking new contract, but in a different way. Messi just signed the richest MLS deal in history, with Miami FC. The salary he will earn is not yet known, but what makes that deal so rich is that it apparently gives Messi a 35% ownership stake in the club, which is partly owned by David Beckham.