Social media is everywhere. At the swipe of your finger, or a click of your remote, you are instantly in tune with the rest of the world. Something that has become such natural part of our daily lives is so powerful it has us connected to events, people and of course, sports teams from across the world. Social media has become a gateway for people all over to voice their love, as well as bitterness towards their favorite teams and athletes. So which athlete is currently getting the most attention from the world? If you guessed tall, dark and handsome Cristiano Ronaldo, you were right! This year, Forbes announced that Cristiano Ronaldo is at the top of the list for most popular athletes on social media. The most recent update has Cristiano Ronaldo at more than 158 million total followers across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. With Messi and Neymar taking second and third place, Ronaldo still is ahead of them with about 65 million followers. So what is really so great about this? For Ronaldo’s endorsement partners like Nike, Tag Heuer and Herbalife, Ronaldo is pretty much handing over publicity on a silver platter to them. For example, Tag Heuer being one of Ronaldo’s endorsements, Ronaldo posted on Facebook about six times over two days last year supporting the watch brand’s “Don’t Crack Under Pressure” ad campaign. The posts were viewed a striking 35 million times with 2.4 million Facebook likes over TWO days. The posts generated an estimated value of $380,000 for Tag, according to research source Repucom. It doesn’t sound too bad endorsing a top gun athlete! The repercussions seem to be pretty rewarding. Although, if Ronaldo finds himself tangled in some negative media, and/or ends up not performing well in a couple games, would the repercussions be the same? Would his endorsements still benefit or would they suffer some consequences?
-Elizabeth Keu
sportsandmediasite 
I would not change a thing. This was really interesting and fun to read. I liked how you engaged the audience and brought humor into the blog. It makes our site as a whole come together and adds a different twist. Your sentences were smooth as well and everything transitioned nicely. Your example and topics were good as well.
-Claire
LikeLike
I think negative media attention for Ronaldo would not have the same rewarding repercussions for the superstar. If Ronaldo was found to be involved in a major scandal either on the field, such as cheating, or off the field in something personal, I think the media would be all over him and he would likely lose some of his high profile sponsors. This is what happened to golf star Tiger Woods when it was revealed he cheated on his wife with multiple women.
LikeLike
I think if Ronaldo was involved in a scandal or negative publicity either on the field by something like cheating, or off the field in a personal scandal- he would likely not receive this high degree of rewarding publicity and would probably even lose his sponsorships. This is what happened to golf star Tiger Woods when the media found out about his personal affairs.
LikeLike
Yes the Tiger Woods scandal is one for the books. I personally think something related towards drug abuse or an issue that really brings down his image was increase the chances of all of his sponsors letting him go. This is what happened to Michael Phelps!
LikeLike
I appreciated the concept you presented of the value that social media has for athletes and especially companies who can use athletes such as Ronaldo to advertise their products. My question comes down to why would companies want to use Ronaldo instead of anyone else? Could anyone be substituted in place of Ronaldo insofar as they had just as many followers or is it something innate about Ronaldo that makes him valuable? In other words, if we suppose like you said that Ronaldo was tangled in some negative media attention, would he actually lose sponsorship or would this drive businesses to him even more with the newfound attention? If it´s the latter then it would seem as though there´s something innate about Ronaldo and his personality that makes him value and not simply his popularity on social media. If it´s the former, it would seem as though anyone could be substituted for Ronaldo insofar as they had the same social media presence.
LikeLike
As mentioned in my blog, companies are drawn to Ronaldo because he has the highest social media attention so far. With the most followers out of any soccer player on Facebook and Twitter, sponsors know that he can reach out to many many people this way, because he seems to have many supporters. I personally believe that if he was tangled in negative media attention, his sponsors would drop like flies. Something that also helps Ronaldo is that he has had a good streak of media attention!
LikeLike
This ties into the recent post with Tiger Woods on the blog. It’s obviously very beneficial for Ronaldo and his sponsors to have such mass publicity, but I think that if Ronaldo were to get involved in any fishy case that he could expect to lose a lot. With such mass exposure, Ronaldo and his sponsors are taking the chance of putting themselves out there, and with that responsibility comes knowing all the possibilities and outcomes that could occur. This is where the business side comes into sports. The sponsors always have to be on their toes about what to do next and how to respond to any complications that could arise.
LikeLike