Rafael Nadal and Zinedine Zidane are two players who don’t need any introductions. Both of them are considered to be legends of their respective sports. At the Paris Olympics, Zidane passed on the Olympic torch to Nadal as a tribute to the Spaniard’s 14 French Open title wins, a world record in tennis which is set to never be broken.
This incident took place at the latter stages of the torch rally, which is normally reserved for the sports stars of the host country of the Olympics only.
The duo shared another iconic sporting moment when Zidane handed Nadal his first-ever Grand Slam trophy when the Spaniard beat Mariano Puerta in the final of the French Open in 2005. Hence, life came a full circle for the Spanish tennis legend, in a way, on Friday.
Both the sportspersons’ off-the-sport activities and earnings from them, have attracted lot of interest among tennis and soccer fans alike. Starting with Nadal, the former World No.1 has an estimated net worth of above $323.61 million as of the start of 2024.
His career prize money figure is nearly $135 million, which is the second highest of all0time in tennis after Novak Djokovic. The Spaniard’s association with Kia Motors dates back to the year 2006 and the company has been sponsoring him ever since.
Top sportswear brand Nike has also been associated with Nadal for a long time and has also designed apparel specifically for the legend over the years. Lanvin Colognes, Quely (a Mallorca-based food company), Emporio Armani, and PokerStars are a few other brands endorsed by the 22-time Grand Slam winner.
Nadal’s total life earnings, which include his tournament winnings and endorsements, exceed $500 million according to Forbes.
On the other hand, as per World in Sport, the retired French soccer player’s net worth is estimated to be around $120 million, which is around $200 million less than the Spanish star.
Zidane, who was a professional soccer player for France, enjoyed an illustrious career that even included a FIFA World Cup win in 1998. He played for clubs such as Real Madrid and Juventus in his career, which formed a huge chunk of his earnings.
Post his retirement, he started working as a soccer manager and enjoyed immense success with Real Madrid where he earned a base salary of $14 million annually. Just like Nadal, Zidane too has associated himself with several brands like Adidas, Lego, Christian Dior etc., over the years to supplement his income, both as a player and coach.
In the year 2006, he became the sixth highest-paid soccer player in the world as his Real Madrid salary of 6.4 million euros combined with 8.6 million euros from brand associations.
Despite soccer being considered as more lucrative than tennis, Nadal perhaps came at a time when sponsorships and endorsements were on a rise across the world. The Spaniard was a star of the 2000s while Zidane was a product of the 1990s.
But Nadal’s marketability in more number of countries and the way his now business partner Carlos Costa handled his investments portfolio, also played a huge role in his riches.
Nadal and Zidane are two names who have shown that with lot of dedication to their craft and clever financial planning, youngsters can make it big in any sport they choose, no matter which country they are from.
