Ronaldo earns more than Messi — and by a wide margin. But that raw fact opens up a maze of reasons: contracts, endorsements, branding, and global marketability. In this article, DeutKick will accompany you to peel back each layer to understand why Ronaldo—at 40 years old—is still pulling in more money than the younger Messi in 2025.
The Big Picture: Who Rakes in More (2025 Snapshot)
To anchor our discussion, let’s look at what recent rankings show.
- According to Forbes’ 2025 list, Cristiano Ronaldo tops the world’s highest-paid athletes at $275 million, while Lionel Messi comes in at $135 million.
- Of Ronaldo’s total, $225 million is attributed to salary and winnings, and $50 million to endorsements. Messi’s breakdown is about $60 million from salary and $75 million.
- Ronaldo’s club contract with Al-Nassr is widely reported to be among football’s biggest-ever, with a base club salary plus commercial deals totaling €200 million annually.
- Messi’s earnings in MLS are considerably lower in base salary, though he has supplementary revenue streams tied to club equity, tie-ins with Apple/MLS, and commercial partnerships.
These disparities reflect more than just on-pitch talent — they reflect branding, negotiation leverage, and strategic positioning.
Contract & Club Salary: The Foundation
At the core of any athlete’s income is the club contract: guaranteed salary, bonuses, and contract terms.
Ronaldo’s Saudi Megadeal
When Ronaldo moved to Al-Nassr, his deal was nothing short of revolutionary. The contract is reported to guarantee €90 million in guaranteed wages, with the remainder of the €200 million package made up by commercial add-ons and image rights. This enormous figure makes it one of the largest hormonal contracts in sports history.
Moreover, the deal reportedly includes signing bonuses and equity components, further strengthening his compensation package.
Messi’s MLS Contract and Limitations
Messi’s Inter Miami contract is far more modest in comparison. His guaranteed base salary is reported at around $12 million. While that’s still substantial, it doesn’t approach the scale of Ronaldo’s Saudi deal.
This difference in base salary and guaranteed payments establishes a high floor for Ronaldo’s earnings that Messi can’t match under his MLS contract structure.
Endorsements & Brand Value: Monetizing Fame
If you think club salary is huge, endorsements are the multiplier that pushes Ronaldo’s earnings into stratospheric territory.
Ronaldo: A Global Branding Machine
Ronaldo’s brand is ubiquitous. High-profile endorsements include Nike (with a reported lifetime deal), Herbalife, Binance, TAG Heuer, and more. He also commands top-dollar for social media posts — reportedly over $3 million per Instagram post. His global appeal extends across markets in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, giving brands strategic access through him.
He also builds business ventures—CR7 clothing, fragrances, hotels—which create ongoing revenue streams beyond one-off deals.
Messi: Strategic, But Less Aggressive
Messi’s endorsements are heavyweight too: Adidas, Pepsi, Mastercard, Lay’s, and more. However, his commercial approach is more controlled, sometimes tied to long-running partnerships rather than frequent brand-switching or self-directed ventures. His club equity stake and a share of MLS and Apple/MLS revenues help, but those are behind Ronaldo’s floor.
Because Ronaldo pushes harder into the branding frontier, his off-pitch revenue multiplies his advantage.
Market Appeal & Global Reach
Money in football flows where marketability flows. Ronaldo has qualities that make him more monetizable at scale.
- Global audience penetration: Ronaldo’s popularity in non-traditional markets is huge. His move to Saudi Arabia enhances exposure in a rapidly growing football market.
- Social media dominance: Ronaldo consistently ranks as the most-followed person or top-followed athlete across platforms, giving brands direct reach.
- Longevity and consistency: Ronaldo maintains elite performance and fitness at age 40, which amplifies his “icon” status and helps sustain his appeal.
- Willingness to push boundaries: He signs big deals, expands into new ventures, pushes into new markets. Messi, though still iconic, has always been more conservative and focused on legacy, footballing identity, and selective branding.
Because Ronaldo’s appeal taps into broader, evolving markets, brands see more value (and risk in missing out) in partnering with him — and pay accordingly.
Negotiation Leverage & Timing
Earnings in sport are often about smart timing and leverage. Ronaldo has capitalized exceptionally.
- When negotiating contracts, Ronaldo’s agents have pushed for high guaranteed payments, bonuses, image rights, and equity shares.
- His transfer to Saudi Arabia came at a time when Saudi clubs were pumping money into football — giving Ronaldo tremendous leverage to demand inflated figures.
- Messi in MLS doesn’t have that same “market shock” moment — MLS’s structure and revenue model limit how much star contracts can explosively scale.
- Ronaldo’s career built a narrative: every decade, he ups the ante. That reputation gives him leverage few others can match.
Therefore, Ronaldo negotiates.
Risk and Cost for the Clubs
Some of why Messi earns less is structural — leagues and clubs have budget constraints, salary caps, and brand exposure ceilings.
- MLS has stricter salary rules and roster mechanisms, which limit how much a club can spend on individual stars relative to the rest of the roster.
- Clubs in Saudi Arabia during the recent boom have been granted more flexibility and external backing to push astronomical deals.
- Brand return expectations: Ronaldo’s contract justifies itself because returns (merchandise, exposure, attention) are presumed massive. Messi’s incremental value in MLS has benefits, but not at the same scale.
Thus, Messi’s earning ceiling is partly constrained by the structural and economic limits of his environment.
Legacy, Risk, and Ambition
One must also factor intangible but powerful human elements.
- Ronaldo has always been as much a business as a player — his ambition, marketing acumen, and relentless self-branding push him to chase revenue aggressively.
- Messi’s identity is more on-foot, more about the artistry and purity of football; he is selective about deals, sometimes avoiding commercial saturation, even if that limits income.
- Ronaldo has embraced risk and reinvention; in contrast, Messi has built consistency and heritage. There’s a trade-off: Ronaldo’s approach can lead to higher income but also higher exposure and risk.
In 2025, Ronaldo’s philosophy pays off in the numbers.
Why Ronaldo Earns More Than Messi: Recap
We’ve dissected several pillars:
- Contract scale and guaranteed base — Ronaldo’s Saudi contract dwarfs Messi’s MLS terms.
- Endorsements and branding — Ronaldo monetizes his global fame more aggressively and widely.
- Market appeal and reach — He thrives in multiple markets and is unpredictable in expansion.
- Negotiation leverage — He times deals during football-money booms.
- Structural constraints — Messi operates under league and club limitations.
- Personality and ambition — Ronaldo treats soccer as business in every dimension.
Put another way: Messi is brilliant on the pitch; Ronaldo is a business engine with feet. That engine is what drives why Ronaldo earns more than Messi.
Final Thoughts
Why Ronaldo earns more than Messi isn’t just a matter of raw talent — it’s the deliberate fusion of football, branding, market timing, negotiation power, and ambition. Ronaldo’s approach is maximalist: try to squeeze every bit of value possible. Messi’s is more restrained and focused on legacy and purity.
If you’re a football fan wanting to go deeper, you can explore annual breakdowns of their revenues, year-by-year contract shifts, or how emerging markets are rewriting player pay. Drop me a topic and DeutKick can dive into that next.
