Footballers are some of the most followed celebrities on social media. Every object and service they use or promote will see massive increases in sales. This is why companies that want to increase their customer base sign million-dollar contracts with football players.

Football players have to follow FIFA standards and rules in order to maintain their positions at their clubs, as they are not allowed to gamble on or against their clubs. Therefore, gambling companies have to think about other ways to get ambassadors. 

This is why the more prominent companies sponsor football clubs’ equipment and put their logos on them, around the field, and on screens when the team plays. Many countries don’t forbid this kind of advertising. 

Moreover, gambling enterprises started taking a step further by contracting famous football players and creating personalised advertisements with their help in order to reach a broader audience. Let’s see which former and current players signed deals with gambling or betting companies and how profitable the campaigns were. 

Micah Richards & Roy Keane – Sky Bet

Sky Bet doesn’t play when it comes to closing deals with football legends. The former Irish professional player, and current coach and pundit, Roy Keane, signed a campaign with Sky Bet in June 2022. 

The former football player appears in a TV commercial where he has to rush to get in time for a football match. After he finds his seat, the English former professional footballer Micah Richards blocks his vision. It’s an alert 60 seconds ad that promotes their phone platform. 

Micah Richards also appears alongside Gary Neville in a series of short episodes called “Agree and disagree”, sponsored by Sky Bet. This series doesn’t directly promote gambling; instead, they discuss football subjects and hot topics to engage with the public.  

Jack Wilshere – Paddy Power 

At the beginning of 2022, the former Arsenal FC and the England National Team player, Jack Wilshere, appeared in a Paddy Power ad. The midfielder has meetings with two social media managers who constantly try to devise a suitable plan to bring him back into the game and find him a new club. 

The campaign is hilarious, and Wilshare seems to enjoy it. He doesn’t promote gambling or sports betting; he advocates for himself while searching for a club to play. He ends his commercial by saying he is ready and fit to play for anyone except Tottenham. 

Harry Redknapp – BetVictor

The glorious playfield days have long been gone for this football legend, but this doesn’t mean he has any plans to retire from public media anytime soon. His BetVictor TV advert is just one of the many successful collaborations the current football coach has been occupying his free time during the last five years. 

Online gambling comparison sites and bonus listing programs consider BetVictor one of the industry’s best gambling platforms. It is secured, and the T&C are comprehensive, so there is no wonder why Redknapp accepted the deal. 

Jose Mourinho – Paddy Power 

Jose Mourinho started advertising after his coaching and management years took a break in December 2018. He closed a deal with Paddy Power centres around his nickname “Special One”. The clip has a funny point of view where Mourinho explains what it takes to be unique in different circumstances. 

The ad has been seen by fans and specialists as being dark humour. The Portuguese superstar had to cut ties with the gambling website due to new regulations that had emerged before the begging of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. However, no one took down the commercial from the internet, and people can still watch it and become the “special ones” by winning the jackpots. 

Ronaldo Nazario – PokerStars

The first world-known Ronaldo joined the PokerStars team in 2011 after he finished his football career at 19 years. After scoring 352 goals in 528 matches for Barca, Inter and Real Madrid and 62 international goals in 98 games, he decided to face another challenge.

Back then, the stars team had athletes such as Rafael Nadal, Boris Becker, and Fatima Moreira De Melo. They ended their partnership in 2016 and resigned from the deal last year.

The Brazilian legend won significant sums twice at PokerStars competitions. The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure from 2015 brought him $42,180, and the same competition one year later added an extra sum of $3,580.

Cristiano Ronaldo – PokerStars

Another famous Ronaldo that had a deal with PokerStars is Cristiano Ronaldo. Although he is an active player at Al-Nassr, he made it to our top because of his unusual deal. One of his mottos is that he won’t promote or sign contracts with gambling operators. 

He took this decision because he didn’t want to promote gambling or betting and influence children in these directions. Even with all this, in 2015, he appeared in numerous ads for PokerStars. He was displayed playing against Miss Universe or Aaron Paul. However, their deal closed, and since then, he has never accepted any other gambling companies in his promoting portfolios. 

So there you have it: a list of famous footballers that stroke deals with gambling enterprises. What do you think about them? Did they turn out as good decisions?