Truth be told: picking the shirtsponsor is not at all the responsibility of the players. Nevertheless, as millions of shirts are being bought by fans all over the world, it’s near impossible to miss the big sponsor showing on the front (or back) of the shirts.

We made a quick comparison between Messi and Ronaldo, and made a judgement of who we think has brought the best ‘sponsor story’ in their careers. From start of their careers until now:

Cristiano Ronaldo:

• Sporting Lisbon
  • 2002-2003:  PT (Portugal Telecom)
• Manchester United :
  • 2003-2006: Vodafone (Telecom)
  • 2006-2009: AIG
• Real Madrid:
  • 2009-2013: Bwin
  • 2013-2018: Emirates
• Juventus:
  • 2018-now: Jeep

Lionel Messi:

• Barcelona:
  • 2006-2011: UNICEF
  • 2011-2013: Qatar Foundation
  • 2013-2017: Qatar airways
  • 2017-now: Rakuten (e-commerce)

There is a significant difference between the two players, however a lot of that has to do with Messi only having played for 1 team, a team known to highlight charity as well. Not only has UNICEF been on the Barcelona shirts since 2006, the Barcelona superstar is also known to be a Goodwill Ambassador for the world renowned charity.

While currently Rakuten, a Japan based e-commerce, is the main sponsor on the Barcelona shirts now, UNICEF can still be seen on the backside and seems to be there to stay.

If we look at the main sponsors Cristiano Ronaldo has been rocking on his shirt we see a more general commercial range of companies throughout all his different teams. From Telecom companies to AIG, an insurance company, they have all been there.

Looking at current tendencies of main sponsors of football teams, it is actually surprising that there is only one online casino between all the sponsors, as our friends at CasinosZonderAccount.com have noticed that more and more bookmakers and casino’s are showing up as shirt sponsors across all leagues in the world.