When Wayne Rooney burst onto the scene in 2002, it became clear very quickly that Everton FC had an incredible talent on its hands. Over the course of 19 years, he went from a precocious talent to England’s all-time leading goalscorer, although that is a record that has since been broken by Harry Kane.
However, whereas most people believe Kane is the much better goalscorer, in terms of pure footballing ability and natural talent, Rooney was miles ahead of his fellow countrymen.
Because of this incredible natural talent, Manchester United made him the most expensive teenager in world football when they signed him in 2004. By announcing himself on the global soccer stage in such an explosive manner, he launched a career marked by bumper contracts, sponsorships, and a flurry of investments that have helped him amass a net worth of over $200 million.
Today, we’re going to look at how Rooney continues to make money in his retirement, and how he is looking to continue generating income despite his glittering playing days coming to an end.
A Dominant Face in Video Gaming Sponsorships
This sponsorship in video gaming was a mutually beneficial agreement; it helped bolster the video gaming market at a time when online gaming was first finding its feet, and it helped bring Rooney’s commercial appeal alongside some of the world’s best players of that era. Netting him hundreds of thousands of pounds every season simply appears on the front cover of the video game.
Nowadays, we’ve seen professional video gaming take on a whole new form, you can find FC tournaments, watch them live on YouTube, you can also watch long-form highlight videos of the latest global tournaments from some of the most popular esports on the planet like Counter-Strike 2, as you can see in the link below, and peruse through their associated betting markets.
Those who bet on esports matches at Thunderpick will have a good idea of how cryptocurrency works within the realms of betting and video gaming. It is a market that has exploded over the last decade and a half, but in the earliest embers, and before esports even existed, it was names like Wayne Rooney who were the pioneers, allowing modern players to maximize their income by collaborating with video gaming companies.
A Pioneer in Soccer Sponsorships
Throughout the early 2000s, the commercial value of individual soccer players soared to levels nobody had ever seen before. The rise of the digital age, coupled with the enormous sums of money involved in TV broadcasting, led to billions of dollars pouring into English soccer, making the Premier League the most lucrative in the world.
Between 2004 and 2013, some would argue that Rooney was the best player in the league. He won multiple league titles and the UEFA Champions League, and he appeared on the cover of every FIFA game between 2006 and 2012. Even in retirement, some of Rooney’s iconic FUT cards are rated in the high 90s.
With FUT becoming one of the most in-demand areas of FC 26, and players constantly seeking ways to get their hands on coins, the game’s dynamic has changed tremendously since the days of Rooney’s dominance, but he set the precedent for many icons who have come since.
Wayne’s sponsorships were a huge source of secondary income for the Manchester United icon, with Coca-Cola and Nike both paying enormous sums for his image rights over a multi-year deal.
Although the bulk of his wealth has stemmed from his eye-watering wage amount, which at one point topped $330,000 per week, in retirement, he has been benefitting from putting his money from his playing days to good use, with a number of shrewd investments and a strong presence in the punditry and analytical side of the game.
Post-Retirement Earnings
We’ve seen Rooney become an increasingly visible face in the media; he is often involved in coverage of major competitions, such as the World Cup and the Euros. Despite having a rough ride as a manager at several lower-tier teams and attracting the wrong kind of media attention, these wages have helped supplement the enormous sums he made as a player.
Although many of the sponsorship details he had had since his retirement had expired, which is to be expected, Rooney has several investments spanning a vast property portfolio, from bars and restaurants to commercial and personal property.
Wayne was one of the highest-paid players at Manchester United during the golden Ferguson era, but he has not made a major investment like many of his teammates, such as David Beckham and Gary Neville.
Granted, he’s not as old as many of his former teammates and given that he has only been retired for a few years, he might look to invest his money as he gets older and seeks a greater return. However, with an estimated fortune north of $200 million, he is probably not having sleepless nights about his bank balance; let’s put it that way.
