Lionel Messi Named World’s Most Marketable Athlete
Barcelona star Lionel Messi was named the world’s most marketable sportsman in 2020, beating long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 33-year-old Messi remains ahead of Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo, with Neymar, Mohamed Salah and Paolo Dybala. The three are also among the footballers in the top 10, according to a study of SportsPro.
American basketball great LeBron James, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and Canadian tennis player Bianca Andreescu are among the top five names. Bianca has also been named as the top-ranked female athlete.
The list of 50 Most Marketable (50MM) Athletes 2020 is powered by Nielsen’s proprietary athlete marketability assessment methodology.
The top 10:
- Lionel Messi – Argentinian, 33, Football
- Cristiano Ronaldo – Portuguese, 35, Football
- LeBron James – American, 35, Basketball
- Virat Kohli – Indian, 31, Cricket
- Bianca Andreescu – Canadian, 20, Tennis
- Neymar Jr – Brazilian, 28, Football
- Khabib Nurmagomedov – Russian, 32, MMA
- Rohit Sharma – Indian, 33, Cricket
- Mohamed Salah – Egyptian, 28, Football
- Paulo Dybala – Argentinian, 26, Football
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