<<Print>>

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the most marketable athlete on the planet, ahead old rival Lionel Messi, Serena Williams, Lewis Hamilton and LeBron James.

The Manchester United star is considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of football.

Beyond that, he has become one of the biggest stars in the world, currently boasting the most Instagram followers (489m) of anyone on the planet.

He also has huge brand deals with the likes Nike, Herbalife, Clear and LiveScore.

SportsPro released their list of the 50 most marketable athletes on Monday morning, with Ronaldo topping the charts. It is the 13th year SportsPro have compiled the list, which helps companies decide on which athlete to hire as the face of their brand.

Athletes were ranked according to a 'Marketability Score', which is split into three distinct scoring components: brand strength, economics and audience. 

Designed to accurately evaluate an athlete's marketability, the ranking is not just based on social media followership or reach, but also takes into account an athlete's social impact, charitable endeavours and influence on the triple bottom line. 

Ronaldo was named the most marketable athlete after commanding a 'marketability score' of 91.21 out of a possible 100. 

He was some way clear of tennis icon Serena Williams in second and seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton in third.