Ronaldo's Rape Allegation Could Mean Trouble for Nike
With the #MeToo movement gaining more traction than ever, any claim against someone for sexual assault or harassment with or without evidence must be taken very seriously. In early October, Cristiano Ronaldo was accused of sexual assault by Kathryn Mayorga. Mayorga claims Ronaldo assaulted her in Las Vegas in 2009, but she kept quiet because his team paid her $375,000. Ronaldo claims the allegations are false. This creates obvious problems for Ronaldo’s public image, but this also creates a large publicity issue for Nike, Ronaldo’s most profitable endorsement.
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| Photo from https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/cristiano-ronaldo-rape-allegations-latest-las-vegas-hotel-police-investigation-kathryn-mayorga-real-a8582761.html |
Ronaldo has been with Nike since 2003 and has since earned a total of $174.4 million from the deal. In 2016, Nike announced a lifetime deal with Ronaldo that is worth almost $1 billion. Nike released an early statement expressing concern, promising to closely monitor the situation, but not much followed. Since October, more evidence has come out against Ronaldo, prompting the Las Vegas police to seek Ronaldo’s DNA earlier this month. (CNN)
While no concrete decision regarding Ronaldo’s conviction has been made, Nike has yet to release a statement since the story first surfaced in early October. Some defend Nike in waiting until the accusation has been proven true to release one of their largest faces, but others claim that Nike has waited far too long to end their deal with Ronaldo. What do you think?
Sources:
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/cristiano-ronaldo-rape-allegations-latest-las-vegas-hotel-police-investigation-kathryn-mayorga-real-a8582761.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/cristiano-ronaldo-rape-allegations-latest-las-vegas-hotel-police-investigation-kathryn-mayorga-real-a8582761.html
https://www.pulse.ng/sports/football/cristiano-ronaldo-all-31-endorsement-deals-real-madrid-star-has-made-money-from/cz6vvgr
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/10/football/cristiano-ronaldo-rape-allegation-warrant-for-dna-spt-intl/index.html
I read all about this case. I think this scandal combined with his other legal issues say it all. I do not understand how Nike has barely addressed the issue. Their only comment was that they are "deeply concerned". The face of their brand has been found guilty of tax fraud and is now being heavily investigated in a rape case. This guy clearly has some issues. I think Nike needs to take out the trash and find a new player. (Sarah)
ReplyDeleteHey Sarah!
DeleteI completely agree with your concern regarding Nike's absence. I think in regards to the European market, Ronaldo has been if not their biggest one of their biggest revenue streams. They are probably defending their rationale with the similarly in the way they didn't drop Tiger Woods when his scandal occurred because of how much money he's made them. However, cheating is on an entirely different spectrum than rape. Thanks for the comment!
Caity
Since Renaldo has been with Nike for so long and brought the company so much revenue, one associates Renaldo with Nike. Therefore, Nike is obligated to publicly address the acquisitions. It's kind of disappointing that they haven't yet. Nike has to show the world that they are not just a company concerned with money. Especially in today's world with the Me Too Movement and public press on sexual assaults, like you mentioned in the article, it is expected that a company like Nike would say something. I think Nike made a mistake and should have released a statement a lot sooner. At this point, it just looks bad on their part. (Jackie)
ReplyDeleteHi Jackie!
DeleteYour point about the association of Ronaldo and Nike makes a good point. Regardless of if Nike plans to drop Ronaldo or not, they need to at least address the issue from a PR standpoint. I completely understand their hesitation when the news initially surfaced, just because they had no idea how true the story once, but as soon as evidence came to light, they should have released a statement. Thanks for your input!
Caity
I can understand Nike’s skepticism about addressing the Ronaldo scandal because of how much revenue he has made for the company, but after more evidence against Ronaldo was found, Nike should have reacted. Rape is a serious allegation and it looks badly on Nike’s part because Ronaldo sponsors the company. I believe Nike should begin searching for another athlete to sponsor because the bad publicity could cause financial troubles. If these allegations turn out to be true, this could jeopardize Ronaldo’s career and Nike would have to pull its endorsement anyway. There are many other upcoming athletes who possess a great deal of talent and would represent the company better than Ronaldo has.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you in that as more evidence surfaced, Nike should have done something. As you can see if you follow football, there are huge stars coming up right now, and Nike should just latch on to them. They're a big enough company that they can handle the revenue hit of losing Ronaldo, but I don't think they or any other company for that matter could recover from the reputation of not taking rape seriously.
DeleteI agree with both of the comments above. One of Nikes most important marketing mediums is their sports players and Ronaldo is one of their top athletes. Whether this is fair to the company or not, if you are sponsoring the player, you are sponsoring everything about them. His convictions of tax fraud should be concerning to Nike. However, they will be able to overcome that. But rape accusations are in a whole new ball park. I understand that at this point they are just accusations and everyone should be innocent until proven guilty, so I see it fair that they haven't dropped him. As Sarah and Jackie both said, I disagree with their choice to not release a more meaningful statement about this. Is there a reason they wouldn't want to do this? Are they trying to look like they have their players backs?
ReplyDeleteHey Darby. I think their reasoning was just to wait to make a huge move that could impact the future of their company until they were positive it was true. My thing with this is that you don't even necessarily have to drop him right away, but you can at least keep posting statements to prove you're following up.
Delete- Darby
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. I feel as if Nike was hesitant to pull out of their deal without any concrete evidence or actions taken against Ronaldo, but this is no excuse. Yes, Ronaldo is a great player and certainly has generated a lot of positive publicity for Nike throughout their partnership. In my opinion, the second that this allegation was made and started getting more serious, Nike should have pulled out of their deal. This should have happened in respect for the victim and to keep a good reputation for their brand.
ReplyDeleteLindsay Reynolds
I think Nike has really tip toed the line of keeping athletes when they really shouldn't. Tiger Woods, for example, was a huge publicity scandal for Nike. However, they decided to keep him and ended up fine, but rape is entirely different than cheating. Nike seems to be too concerned with their immediate revenue stream, as opposed to their long term reputation.
Delete
ReplyDeleteInnocent until proven guilty right? This is a very serious accusation and should be taken with an equal amount of seriousness on its handling. It seems like things have quieted down a bit on this topic but I am very curious to see what comes of it. A lot of things in this case are interesting including that she says it happened back in 2003. With Ronaldo not being a United States citizen and also being all over the world I think this could have a lot of different countries involved.
-Andrew Stuardi
Hey, Andrew! I disagree with you there. Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but when there's enough evidence out there that points you guilty, society is allowed to make judgements before an official court ruling is decided because we all know how long that process is. I think if the world believes it to be true, Nike needs to leave.
Delete(This is for the below article but it wouldn't let me post)
ReplyDeleteMessi’s influence is something that is priceless. He looks like an average relatable guy until he hits the pitch and produces art. I wonder how much influence Messi has when it comes to business inside of FC Barcelona. Messi’s Instagram has become a huge marketing platform. So much so that when he posts something it starts trending on the internet immediately. This kind of connection to millions of people in every country around the world is what makes him so lucrative that what he says doesn’t only affect his home country of Argentina but everybody in the entire world including the United States.
-Andrew Stuardi
I'm sure he has a huge say of the business of FC Barcelona. When there's an immediate association of a player with a team, you owe it to the player to include them in major decisions just as they owe you the respect of including you in their decisions. Messi's social platform in unmatched, and generates the reach that simple print and media ads can't do nowadays.
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