Cristiano Ronaldo apparently earns more from being an Instagram influencer than he does from playing soccer for Juventus.
Ronaldo has taken home $47.8 million from paid Instagram posts alone over the past year, according to a Hopper HQ study published on Buzz Bingo, which lists the 34-year-old as the platform’s highest earner.
His annual wage packet at Juventus, for whom he signed for in 2018, is $34 million according to Goal.com – $14.7 million less than he receives for his posts on Instagram.
Receiving a reported average of $975,000 per advertised post, Ronaldo’s Instagram earnings far eclipse the world’s biggest celebrities, including Kylie Jenner, Selena Gomez, and Emily Ratajkowski.
He also beats footballing rival Lionel Messi, who is said to have earned less than half of Ronaldo’s total with $23.3 million.
Amongst the brands, Ronaldo has represented on Instagram are Clear Haircare, Nike Football, and Six Pad Europe.
“Ronaldo is the most followed human on Instagram (with 186 million followers) so companies are paying almost $1 million for posts to access his insane reach,” Hopper HQ marketing executive Nicola Cronin told Business Insider.
“Due to his status as a celebrity and football star, his earnings from Instagram break away from typical influencer partnerships, as many of his promotional posts will be part of wider sponsorship deals, such as Nike.
“You only need to go on his Instagram to see how many paid partnerships he does outside of the sports market.”
Ronaldo scored his 700th career goal for club and country on Monday in Portugal’s 2-1 loss to Ukraine in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying.
His 72nd minute penalty saw him join an elite club of only five other plays to tally those numbers during their respective careers, including Gerd Muller, Ferenc Puskas, and Brazil legend Pele.
In typical Ronaldo fashion, he took to Instagram to celebrate the achievement, sharing a two-and-half-minute long video of his greatest goals.
“Proud to score the 700th goal of my career,” he wrote alongside the video. “I would like to share with all those who helped me reach this mark. Today we didn’t get the result we wanted but together we will qualify for Euro 2020.”
Ronaldo is next in action for Juventus on Saturday October 19, when Maurizio Sarri’s side take on Bologna FC.