40 RISEOFRONALDO
.Leaguebacktothe
Bernabeuforthefirst
timesince 20 02?,hastalkedaboutfootball as a rivalforHollywood,arguingthat
ifyou spend£100mmaking a filmyou know it willgrossmore
ifyou getSlyStalloneinbecause,whetherhecanactornot,
heputs bums on seats.
“Youbuybigplayersbecause they payyouback,”says
Valdano.“There arefootballerswhogenerate a lotof
moneyandotherswho onlyhavea sportingvalue.”THEYPAY FORTHEMSELVES
TheplayersMadridbuygeneratealotofmoney.Infact,if we
believePerez,theypay forthemselvesandeveryoneelse,and
theevidencecomesfromhislast mandate.
ThearrivalofFigoandZidanesawthecommercial“value”
ofMadrid’s badgejump dramatically, whilePerezclaimedto
havedoubledthe club’s incomebetween 2000 and 2003.
Healsoclaimedtohavesignedover 200 commercialdeals
evenbefore Beckhamturnedup.WhenFigoarrived,Madrid£250m,accordingtofigures Perezhaspresented.
How?Throughmarketing,ticketsand television.Every
galacticoshareshisimagerights 50- 50 with Madrid.For
example,whenBeckhamsigneda dealtoadvertiseGillette,
Madridpocketedhalf. Muchhasbeen madetooof Beckham
sellinga millionshirts.UnderPerez,ticketsalesincreasedas.
a waitinglistforseasonticketsandthe clubalsobought
backthe righttoexploitthestadium’s VIPboxes,which
wascededtoanintermediary.
Theimpactdidnot last forever. Last season,ona number
ofoccasionsasmanyas 6 00 ofthe 4,5 00 VIPplaceswere
goingempty. Eachplacecosts £ 17 ,000peryearandifthat
patternwas repeatedforeverygame,asPerez fearedwould
happenthiscomingseason,theimpactwouldcost£ 10 m.
WithRonaldoandKakaonboard,Madridbelievethatthey
willnowfilleveryseatthisseason.Perezhasalso spentthe
lastfewmonthscontactingclients at majormultinationals,
suchasCoca-Cola,AudiandAdidas.Butquestionmarks
remain.
Ronaldowill cost RealMadrid£80m,plusa likely
£11m-a-yearbeforetaxfor thenextfiveorsixyears,
addinguptoa totalofalmost £ 15 0m.Ishereally“cheap”?
BarcelonadirectorXavier Sala-i-Martininsiststhatthe
tionofplayerslikeRonaldobeingeconomicallyself-
nancingis a myth,butthenheprobablywouldsaythat.
Thereare,though,areaswhere it appearsdifficultfor
dridtobeassuccessfulastheyhope.Orevenas
successfulastheywerelasttimePerezwasincharge.
Let’s lookatshirts,forexample.Madridclaimedthat
Beckhamsoldonemillionshirts.Evenif we accept thefigure,
isthatreallyaslucrativeas it appears?TheAsianmarket
Madridchasesozealouslyis flooded with counterfeits,
whileeventhe genuineonessellat a fractionofthe
pricestheycommandinwestern Europe.
Thefacile“onemillionshirtsat£60 a go”formulasimply
isn’tadequate,either. Madridhavenotmadethe detailsof“Madridbelievethattheywillnowfilleveryseatthisseason”