Cristiano Ronaldo Generated $500 Million In Value For Nike In 2016

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring a goal. (Photo: ANDER GILLENEA/AFP/Getty Images)

Nike had a brutal 2016. It was the worst-performing Dow 30 stock, down 19%, after tripling over the previous five years. North American sales slowed, profit margins fell and Adidas reemerged as a strong competitor. Don’t blame Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo for the Swoosh’s problems. The global soccer icon delivered $500 million in value for Nike during 2016 through his massive social media network, according to Hookit, which measures the social and digital media value for brands.

Ronaldo is in a league by himself on social media and his sponsors reap the rewards. The four-time Player of the Year has 260 million followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. He added 65 million followers alone in 2016 (or about the combined totals of Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant). Ronaldo's 120 million Facebook fans are more than any other person on the planet.

Here is the breakdown of how he generated half-a-billion dollars in value over 12 months for Nike, above and beyond the cleats, apparel and gear he helped Nike sell. Ronaldo posted 1,703 times overall on social media in 2016. Those posts generated 2.25 billion social interactions (likes, comments, shares, retweets and views on videos), per Hookit. Nike was referenced or its logo visible in a photo or video in 347 of the posts, which had 477 million interactions. Hookit’s methodology looks at promotion type and quality, as well as interactions and market-driven rates. The result: $499.6 million for Nike in media value from Ronaldo’s posts.

The top post of the year in terms of media value to Nike was an Instagram post after Portugal won the Euro 2016 Final at the Stade de France. The sketch of Ronaldo atop the Eiffel Tower with “Just Do It” and the Nike Swoosh had 1.7 million likes and nearly 13,000 comments. The value to Nike: $5.8 million.

“Cristiano is one of the top influencers on the planet who has effectively leveraged his social following and engagement into a media powerhouse to drive tremendous value for his sponsors,” says Hookit co-founder Scott Tilton.

Ronaldo is the highest-paid athlete in the world with earnings of $88 million between June 2015 and June 2016. His earnings are headed up thanks to a new Real Madrid contract signed in November and a Nike contract extension weeks later.

Nike recognizes the importance of Ronaldo, who is at the center of their marketing strategy for soccer, a $2 billion-plus business for the Beaverton, Ore.-based sportswear giant. Nike inked Ronaldo to only the third “lifetime” deal in company history after LeBron James and Michael Jordan, who is assumed to have a quasi-lifetime pact for his Nike-owned Jordan Brand. Ronaldo’s deal is reportedly similar to James’ pact, which is worth as much as $1 billion.

In the case of Ronaldo, Nike got off cheap.