Brazilian footballer named most marketable athlete in the world

Again, it has been recorded that Brazilian footballer Neymar has been ranked the most marketable athlete on the planet after topping SportsPro's annual 50 Most Marketable Athletes list, produced in association with Eurosport, for a second successive year.
After fulfilling the criteria including age, home market, charisma, willingness to be marketed and crossover appeal, Neymar became the fisrt athlete that retained the title in four years among athletes across the globe whose marketing potential ranked highest to reign in the next three years ahead of LeBron James and Usain Bolt who have previously headed the list.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi was ranked second this year, with Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy taking third place. The full World's 50 Most Marketable Athletes list, in association with Eurosport, is published in the June edition of SportsPro magazine.

SportsPro editor-in-chief David Cushnan said, "We ranked Neymar as the most marketable athlete in the world last year and there was really no argument for demoting him this time round. He is poised to be the star of next year's World Cup, in Brazil, and he still has a blockbuster move to a European club potentially ahead of him.

Neymar's superstar status and obvious talent made him a magnet for brands in one of the world's rising economies. He's everything a brand would want and it is obvious that his career has not even peaked.

The World's Ten Most Marketable Athletes 2013 are:

1) Neymar – football, Brazil

2) Lionel Messi – football, Argentina

3) Rory McIlroy – golf, Northern Ireland

4) Robert Griffin III – American football, USA

5) Usain Bolt – athletics, Jamaica

6) Novak Djokovic – tennis, Serbia

7) Lewis Hamilton – motorsport, UK

8) Cristiano Ronaldo – football, Portugal

9) Sloane Stephens – tennis, USA

10) Blake Griffin – basketball, USA