Cristiano Ronaldo Newest PokerStars Team SportsStars Pro

It’s good to be Cristiano Ronaldo: the soccer megastar is now part of PokerStars’ roster of athletes, and he seems to have a new dazzling girlfriend by the week. (Image: mirror.co.uk)

How could Cristiano Ronaldo take his stunning sports career to even more dizzying heights? By signing with the world’s most notable online poker site as its newest global brand ambassador, that’s how.

Yup, PokerStars has signed soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, famed forward for Spanish club Real Madrid and his Portugal national team, the country from whence he hails.

As we predicted earlier this month, Ronaldo’s social media image showing him playing poker with branded PokerStars chips led us to speculate that the 30-year-old icon was seeking a sponsorship offer.

“I always bring the intensity, flair and determination I show on the football pitch to the poker tables,” Ronaldo says in the signing press release. “I love the game, and I’ve always loved the challenge of beating my opponents one-on-one. By joining the world’s biggest poker site, I can test my skills against the game’s best players and become one of them,” he says.

Team SportStars

Make no ifs, ands, or bluffs about it, PokerStars is going all-in on growing online poker with a marketing strategy centered around sports and poker celebrities. In early May, the network signed Neymar Jr., another soccer superstar to its roster.

In addition to its Team Pros lineup, PokerStars also features Team SportStars, a group of elite athletes who have brought their competitive instinct to the game of poker.

The current roster includes:

Cristiano’s Interest

The deal to join PokerStars is far from Cristiano’s typical endorsement deal. Nike pays him $15.7 million a year to wear the swoosh, a figure higher than Tom Brady’s annual deal with the New England Patriots, a team he’s led to four Super Bowl championships.

Castrol, the industrial oil manufacturer, pays him millions too, as does Armani, which put him in skimpy briefs for its ad campaign. Cristiano makes so much off endorsements, it’s daunting to think how much PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker network, is paying him to join its team.

Although Amaya and PokerStars are staying mum on the valuation of the sponsorship, many believe it was Ronaldo who initiated the deal, and that it is less about money per se, as much as giving him a bit of table cred.

His critics have labeled him a know-it-all, conceited, a prima donna, and even downright arrogant and cocky. While it’s hard to imagine a man with 35 million Twitter followers, 17 million Instagram fans and 102 million likes on Facebook would fit that description, his adversaries have nonetheless painted that picture.

If any part of that is true, it could provide some explanation for Ronaldo’s yearning to become part of the PokerStars team, giving him a more eminent position in the game.

Ronaldo (Cristiano) by the Numbers

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