The Entrepreneurial Double Lives of Footballers

On the pitch, they have the speed of a jamboree of jaguars, the grace of a herd of gazelles and the precision of hawks in their passes. But it doesn’t end there, as off the pitch, these athletes venture into uncharted waters and follow different career paths. According to the infographic, some of the biggest names in football, Frank Lampard, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Lionel Messi and Pelé, just to name a few, all lead secret – and successful – double lives as entrepreneurs.

Maximilian Beister, the German Mainz 05 footballer, is the youngest athlete on the list at age 25. For all those cinema-goers out there, it might please you to know that he invented the Snaxcup, which is a combination cup and plate you can use to hold snacks securely when watching a film in the cinema, while at the same time maintaining easy access to your drink via a straw. Ingenious! A set of 25 Snaxcups costs as little as £9.50.

It looks like quite a few of the boys out of FC Barcelona have some booming businesses up and running on the side. Who would have thought that Andrés Iniesta’s money-making product was wine? The central midfielder’s wine label, Bodega Iniesta, is enjoying burgeoning commercial success across the world. His business was even forecasted to make between £200,000 and £400,000 in its first year! Iniesta’s teammate, Gerard Piqué, earns his second income in a different way. He’s actually a professional poker player and is ranked amongst Spain’s most successful 150 poker players, making £94,000 in winnings in recent major tournaments. He also has a gaming company called Kerad Games which is doing pretty well. Besides this, he owns 27% of a company. Check out the infographic below to find out which one.

It’s no surprise that Cristiano Ronaldo has a place on the list. The Portuguese millionaire and forward for Real Madrid has an ongoing £1.41 million deal with Nike. Alongside modelling and sponsorship, he owns two clothing stores (I also know that he co-designed and modelled a range of underwear!) and shoe brand CR7 Footwear, as well as a chain of CR7-branded hotels worth a whopping £60 million.

The English boys from across the pond are also mighty fine businessmen. After developing an interest in trading from the tender age of 18, Ryan Bertrand joined the fintech industry when he launched Silicon Markets, a company offering Artificial Intelligence technology products to retail investors and traders. The 27-year-old out of Southampton FC also co-owns Footiemoji, a business which produces football-based emojis, with Chelsea captain John Terry.

David Beckham and Joleon Lescott are the Brits make a lot of their dosh on the side from fashion. Retiring from the game hasn’t stopped Beckham from cashing in £57,000,000 in his first year of retirement. His fragrance line alone is reputed to bring him in a steady £4.6m annually. Like Beckham, Lescott also has a fashion line. The defender sells high-end fashion wear, collaborating with the luxury department store Harvey Nichols, and backed by rapper 50 Cent, who knows all about business from pushing Vitamin Water. Now that’s definitely an unexpected coupling!

The most famous retiree, Brazilian professional footballer Pelé, earns an estimated £22,500,000 a year solely from his businesses and endorsements. After retiring from the beautiful game, he is not only involved in UNICEF charity work but also invests his time and money in his instant coffee, named after himself of course, ‘Café Pelé’.

For more surprises regarding the double lives of these talented individuals and all about Messi’s £7.5 million investment, be sure to check out our infographic. You can also get to know about Frank Lampard’s property portfolio and can you guess which Gunner co-founded GF biochemicals?

About the author

Eric Roberts

Sports Journalist

Eric has been a sports journalist for over 20 years and has travelled the world covering top sporting events for a number of publications. He also has a passion for betting and uses his in-depth knowledge of the sports world to pinpoint outstanding odds and value betting opportunities.