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I look at this question and have a very big problem, I am a football fan and I am a realist, not always mutually exclusive.

Football is a sport, a strange combination of physical and artistic beauty, intelligence and instinct, and the rarefied heights of competition, the civilised combat. Unfortunately, some might say, it is also a business and a commodity, with huge sums paid out for television rights, on the 'entertainers' wages from the fans who wish to see or view their champions. In this way we join the strange and mysterious world of show business, art and business combined.

So looking quite simply from a business sense 80million pounds for one of the top proponents of the soccer arts for 4-6+ years plus about 180,000 a week in salary, total equaling about 120million. Tom Cruise takes home about 15million for 4-6months work and those he works for must also pay to make and market the films he is in, this is about as close a realistic comparison as you are likely to find.

The flip side of this is the returns an employer might expect, Cruise might expect to produce 4 or 5 films in the 6 year period costing a studio, including marketing, up to 750million, but bringing in a total between 1and 1.5billion worldwide receipts, a significant and profitable investment. What does Ronaldo bring for that 120million, a proven goalscoring and goal-creating record which wins games, victories win championships both domestic and European, and cups, it secures gate receipts and increases demand on for tickets ensuring a strong price for each ticket at each match and subsequently very strong advertising revenue within the ground, on shirts and in their programmes. While it would be difficult to measure the impact of one man in a team environment this does not change the fact that Ronaldo is a figurehead for Real's resurgence and a demonstration of the new returning owner's desire to recapture the dominance of the 90's and early 21st century.

The reality is that Ronaldo was a seriously good piece of commercial business, and a very strong addition to their side who will be hard to beat, and even harder to stop scoring.

The other question is is it morally right, the automatic answer is no, but is this true? Business pay different amounts for other businesses to add them to their portfolio, banks cost into the billions (even when their failing), we have bankers scooping millions in bonuses, chief executive paid to succeed, actor paid 15 million plus for a film or season of a TV series, and in all this people need to be paid people what they are really worth. People are starving, they can't work, they can't farm, wars are fought over pride or land or oil. Sport and art and films are luxuries that we can do without to survive but to live, to enjoy life they are essential in some form or another and here life, art and business collide and to create 'joy' for a group of football fans, for others to enjoy a special players art and as part of a business which produces entertainment, Ronaldo is worth 80 million and it is right for Real to pay it.

Learn more about this author, Mark Spriggs.
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