Facebook Is Close To Tying Cristiano Ronaldo In Record Deal To Star In Its New Show
Facebook is aggressively attempting to tie down Cristiano Ronaldo in a $10 million record deal to feature in a 13-episode documentary series for its video platform Watch, according to Variety.
The show, if it comes to fruition, would chart the life of one of soccer’s most iconic stars in much the same way that Facebook’s show, Tom vs. Time, followed the life of 40-year-old New England Patriots NFL quarterback Tom Brady on and off the field. The docu-series, which was launched on Facebook’s 1-year-old video platform in January this year, was viewed more than 52 million times, leading the social media juggernaut to consider more sports-based content to rival video-streaming platforms including Netflix and Amazon.
And what better athlete to give Facebook the upstart than Ronaldo himself, who is the platform’s most popular sportsperson, boasting more than $120 million followers on Facebook. It is reported that the social media giant is ready to pay Cristiano Ronaldo $10 million for featuring in the docu-series, which would easily pip all shows which have been produced by Watch so far in its brief career.
Moreover, Ronaldo already has a business relationship with Facebook, with the platform announcing in May that he had agreed to produce a scripted drama about a diverse high-school girls soccer team in upstate New York which inspires the local community to transcend the differences dividing it. That show is also set to make its debut on Watch.
Facebook could pay Ronaldo $10M for a docuseries about the world-famous footballer https://t.co/O8u7g0dOOP via @variety
— Todd Spangler (@xpangler) July 5, 2018
The report about Ronaldo possibly being roped in by Facebook comes at a time when the soccer player is struggling with his own professional career choices. Having played for Spanish giants Real Madrid for the last nine years, Ronaldo has reportedly made his desire to leave the club clear, according to BBC. Aged 33, but still regarded as one of the finest soccer players of his generation, he could command a salary in excess of $35 million over a four-period with his new club. Italian giants Juventus are considered to be in a pole position to sign Ronaldo with Real Madrid expecting nearly $120 million for the Portuguese forward.
The Facebook show about Ronaldo, if the deal is struck in the coming days, will be packaged by CAA, while it will be produced by Matador Content and Religion of Sports, a sports-media firm founded by Gotham Chopra, Michael Strahan, Tom Brady, and production company Dirty Robber. It is still not exactly clear if Ronaldo could pen a deal in the next few days, but reports suggest a deal could only be forthcoming after the Real Madrid star has figured out where he is going to play next season.
