Cristiano Ronaldo Generates €200 Million Annually with Padel Venture in Portugal
The sport of padel is the new venture for Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who is part of a consortium that will develop and build a city dedicated to this sport in Portugal. The complex, which will be completed by early 2025, is expected to cost five million euros.
The "Padel City," to be built in Oeiras, on the outskirts of Lisbon, will serve as a "reference point and a calling card" for this sport in Portugal and "will contribute to strengthening the path of training and national teams," explained Ricardo Oliveira, president of the Portuguese Padel Federation (FPP), to EFE.
This week, the Federation announced that the project will be built by a partnership formed by Lusofinança Lda, whose majority shareholder is businessman Filipe de Botton, former representative of Banco Sabadell, and CR7, S.A., a company led by Cristiano.
The involvement of Cristiano and the CR7 brand "adds extraordinary value to Portuguese padel," noted the president of the FPP, who hopes to "capitalize on increasing brand investments in its development."
Furthermore, he emphasized that Cristiano "is an example for everyone" and can also be a role model for padel athletes, as he believes there is "no professional more dedicated and committed in the world of sports."
"And we all know the stratospheric scale of his popularity and the interest generated by all his actions and efforts," he added.
Even without the influence of the Portuguese star, padel in Portugal is "having a fantastic moment," according to Oliveira.
From 11 clubs and dozens of athletes eleven years ago, there are now more than 300 teams, about 11,000 federated athletes, and over 250,000 practitioners, according to figures provided by the Federation.
Faced with this exponential growth, the complex "can decisively contribute to the sport's development," as it "centralizes several fundamental processes," he said.
CLOSING THE GAP WITH SPAIN
By promoting this sport in Portugal, the Padel City could be a step towards closing the gap with Spain.
"It is true that Spanish padel has many years ahead of us, having started decades before us, but we believe that the strengths of this complex can be a step towards closing the distance with those who started the race ahead of us," said Oliveira.
Despite this gap, the Federation president highlighted that Portugal is the second nation to have organized the most World Padel Tour tournaments since 2013, second only to its Iberian neighbor, and in terms of athlete results, it is the "third strongest power."
"We have been able to accomplish things with limited resources, with the structure of a young federation, but we are focused on raising funds that allow us to expand our scope of action and our capacity to support our affiliates, clubs, and athletes more and more," he stated.
With the Padel City, it will be easier to "get more and more young athletes to start in this sport, as it is the only way to train champions capable of competing at the highest international level."
"Despite all that we have already done, we know that there is still much to do," he concluded.
PADEL JOINS CRISTIANO'S PORTFOLIO
Padel now joins the long list of investments and ventures that Cristiano Ronaldo has outside of the playing field, such as hotels bearing his name in cities like Madrid and New York, a hair transplant clinic, and bottled water, among many others.
It is estimated that the Portuguese soccer star generates around €200 million per year through his club salary, image rights, and sponsorships, according to experts consulted by EFE.