Followers of Ronaldo on social media, Juventus gained 10m followers in the month of his signing

Juventus is gambling that the global adoration of Ronaldo will build interest in the division. But as Serie A is locked into broadcast deals until the end of the 2020/21 season, there is little immediate upside from any surge in viewers for Italian football.

“Let’s face it, there are clubs in the bottom half of the [English] Premier League who could potentially pay for the services of Ronaldo,” says Stefan Szymanski, a sports industry academic at the University of Michigan. “That’s not to do with the strategy of these clubs . . . it’s entirely to do with the Premier League having global dominance.”

Unlike many of its Serie A rivals, Juventus plays to a packed house in a ground that it owns. The club’s modern stadium cost €150m to build and opened in 2011. It is set to increase the €56.4m earned in 2017-18 from ticket sales including corporate seats.

A strong run in the Champions League — Juventus opens with an away game against Valencia on Wednesday — is essential. The club has reached the knockout rounds of the tournament for the past five seasons. Winning it could be worth up to €130m in broadcast rights and prize money. Like some of his peers, Mr Agnelli wants the sport to be rearranged to allow for more money-spinning ties between Europe’s football titans and fewer against local minnows.

“The Champions [League] is a difficult and unpredictable competition,” says Massimiliano Allegri, head coach at Juventus. “With Ronaldo, we are far more likely to win it.” Yet, even club executives accept that his arrival cannot guarantee on-pitch success.
Premier League broadcast rights chart

The real hope in Turin is that Ronaldo will ramp up the value of Juventus sponsorship deals. In 2017, thanks to strong performances in Europe, the club earned more from broadcast rights than Manchester United, the world’s richest club by revenues. Yet, while the English club has struggled on the pitch in recent years, it earned nearly €200m more than Juventus in commercial deals.

Being considered part of football’s elite matters. According to research from Nielsen, the overall market for football sponsorship, worth €11bn, is growing by 2 per cent a year. But the growth rate at the biggest 10 clubs, including Juventus, is 12 per cent.

This money mostly comes from the kit manufacturer and shirt sponsor. In the case of Juventus, these are German sportswear company Adidas and the carmaker Jeep, owned by Fiat Chrysler in which the Agnelli family business has a 30 per cent stake. The deal is worth a combined €40m a year, according to KPMG. By contrast, Manchester United’s deals with Adidas and Chevrolet bring in €156m.

Ronaldo may help bridge that gap. Without providing figures, Juventus says it is on course to achieve record replica kit sales this season. While it receives only a small percentage from such sales, the increase should allow it to negotiate better contracts next time.

“There is a very, very strong and clear correlation between the number of shirts sold in a year around the world and the value of your deal,” says Giorgio Ricci, co-chief revenue officer and the head of global partnerships at Juventus.

The club is already discussing a renewal of the Adidas deal on improved terms, according to people close to the talks, who add that Jeep is expected to do the same in coming years.

Ronaldo also brings a different type of star quality. He is among the world’s most tracked personalities on social media, with a combined following of 330m users on platforms from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram. Juventus gained 10m more social media followers in July alone.

Mr Ricci says this helps make the case to sponsors about the club’s growing popularity. The club is in talks with six potential new “regional” sponsors in China and south-east Asia, with other multinational corporations keen to open discussions, he says.

Yet, Mr Szymanski suggests Juventus will continue to be hampered by Italian football’s relative lack of global exposure. “Broadcasting brings the sponsorship, rather than the other way around,” he says. “I can understand that Juventus, in trying to develop a strategy for a club located within Serie A, may not have a lot of choices. This may be its best shot. But is it likely to succeed without a renaissance in Italian football generally? I think it’s tricky.”

For Juventus it is a challenge. It wants to become a global club and Mr Agnelli believes Ronaldo will help it secure a permanent position at the top of the world game. But to do that, once the striker retires, the Juventus owner needs to attract the next young footballing prodigy.

“We have to be in a position to be able to clinch the next Cristiano,” he says. “But at the age of 25.”