Cristiano Ronaldo’s partnership with the Esports World Cup (EWC) has had an “enormous” impact on visibility and brand perception, according to Esports World Cup Foundation’s Chief Commercial Officer Mohammad Al Nimer.

“For us, he was our number one target,” Al Nimer told The Esports Radar. “We started thinking of who get represent the brand best, right? Someone who’s a dedicated athlete who’s known, renowned globally, admired, has been relentless in his pursuit for success and greatness. He’s been doing it for generations now and he’s also involved in gaming. He collaborated with EA on FIFA, he collaborated with Konami, now he has a character on Fatal Fury.”

Al Nimer explained that Ronaldo’s interest in gaming and content creation made the collaboration a natural fit: “When we reached out, he was really interested … He has his YouTube channel, he’s trying to appeal to a younger audience through his collaboration with Mr. Beast, so for us I would really say he was the perfect ambassador for EWC.”

Despite the scale of the opportunity, the deal wasn’t straightforward. “It wasn’t easy. He’s a big name, he has a very strong team around him, but we’re proud to get this over the line,” Al Nimer added.

Ronaldo’s involvement has already paid dividends in terms of awareness and legitimacy, Al Nimer claimed: “We saw a lot of social media conversations from esports fans and non-esports fans, just football fans, Ronaldo fans. Has it brought us new sponsors? No, but is it going to have an impact on the image of the EWC and encourage brands to come in? I think 100% yes.”

While the commercial results are still developing, Al Nimer noted that Ronaldo’s presence has already shifted how brands view the EWC: “ We only announced him recently and sales cycles are long, usually six months to a year. So the impact will not be immediate, but definitely it will have an impact.”

The move makes clear EWC’s broader ambition to position itself as a culturally significant, globally recognised esports event, backed not only by major game publishers, but now by one of the most famous athletes in the world.