The Ballon d’Or effect: How winning it ‘doubles or triples’ a female player’s commercial value

The 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or award was hotly debated, with a PR arms-race among the agencies representing various star names, vying to publicise why their guy should receive the most prized individual accolade in world football.

“The more prestigious the award becomes, the more people want to win it, grow their own profile and cement their legacy in the game,” says Josh Hershman, global chief operating officer at London-based sports marketing agency Ten Toes. “It’s the most unsaid element of the Ballon d’Or. There’s a lot of that in there, across both men’s and women’s.”

However, the women’s game does not have the same global profile as the men’s version, and so such discussions are limited to smaller circles. But the determination to win the voting still stands.

“Players’ increase in desire to build their profile is more evident now in the women’s game than ever before,” says Hershman.

There is, however, far less of a Ballon d’Or-related PR push in women’s football, save one or two exceptions. The women’s award has been around for less than a decade, so does not carry the same weight or history as the one in men’s football, which is wrapped in glitz and glamour dating back to the 1950s.

Introduced in 2018, it has had just four winners: Ada Hegerberg (2018), Megan Rapinoe (2019), Aitana Bonmati (2023, 2024, 2025) and now, for the third time after Monday’s ceremony in London, Alexia Putellas (the 2026 edition joining her awards from 2021 and 2022). The 2020 vote was cancelled because of the pandemic.

Hershman believes the difference in PR approach is because of the infancy of the women’s category. As a consequence, there is not a history of Ballon d’Or clauses being included in commercial contracts — for example, Player A, who is sponsored by Nike, will have it in their deal with the sportswear giant that they receive a bonus for winning the award — like there is in the men’s game.

But that has gradually changed.

Hegerberg and Rapinoe receiving the Ballon d’Or helped boost their profiles, but only as the women’s award has gained more credence has its impact on a player’s commercial worth increased.

Around the time Putellas, the former Barcelona captain who joined London City Lionesses this summer, first won it five years ago, more women’s teams started to insert Ballon d’Or clauses into players’ contracts. “In Spain, when Alexia started winning, everyone started seeing the impact, so we asked for it (for our clients),” says Carlota Planas, agent and vice-president of global women’s football at marketing and talent management agency The Team.

Individual awards can trigger substantial contractual bonuses, doubling or in some instances even tripling a player’s overall earnings, although terms vary by individual, brand and club. The figures paid from top women’s teams for winning the Ballon d’Or can range from approximately $6,700 to $280,000 (£210,000), and even more. But the biggest payers for winning the Ballon d’Or are top footwear brands such as Adidas or Nike.

Interestingly, for sponsors, individual awards will involve far larger bonuses than a major team achievement such as helping win the World Cup. “That tells you brands put a high premium on individual accolades for the direct impact they can derive from a relationship with that athlete,” says Misha Sher, an athlete marketing expert and founder of talent agency One Of Not Many.

As the profile of women’s football grows, so too do those of its awards and the worth their winners bring to brands they work with and the clubs who employ them.

A Ballon d’Or trophy also increases a player’s social media following, furthering their international reach, and global-level companies notice the potential of their larger communication platform. A similar shift, but on a smaller scale, happens to recipients of the Kopa Trophy for the best young player in the sport, won for the second time in a row this week by Barcelona’s now 20-year-old forward Vicky Lopez.

“That first Ballon d’Or changes you,” says Putellas’ agent Josep Maria Figueras, who is head of women’s sports at Gersh agency. “The second one was important in terms of media attention, because it showed it’s not all about luck.”

Putellas’ first two wins allowed her to move from working with local brands in her homeland to those operating on an international scale. The amounts sponsors were prepared to pay to be in business with her increased, too.

The Nike-backed midfielder has partnerships with Oakley, Pepsi, Lay’s, Samsung, carmaker Cupra and energy company Iberdrola, many of which were landed following the increase in attention that came with winning the Ballon d’Or.

Similarly, most of Bonmati’s brand ambassador partnerships, including Nissan, the Japanese car manufacturer, Grupo Bimbo, the Mexican food company, and Revlon, the American beauty-products giant, followed either her first or second Ballon d’Or triumphs. She switched from Nike to Adidas in July 2024 and has more recently been endorsed by sports drink brand Gatorade and Spanish airline Vueling.

Brands use social following, a player’s club and national team and tournaments to decide who they want to endorse. There are only a finite number of deals, however. In a commercially evolving landscape, the Ballon d’Or gives brands, in Sher’s words, a “universally understood reference point” regarding who is the world’s best player.

“To say you’re the Ballon d’Or winner will separate you from everybody else,” adds Hershman. “It can be the deciding factor in getting a big global endorsement deal or not.”

The greater a player’s platform, the higher the appeal to brands, which in turn raises a player’s profile. The Ballon d’Or serves both. “Winning the Ballon d’Or changes everything,” says Planas. “It doubles or triples everything you have, it just gives you opportunities. It’s crazy on the women’s side. They pay more, they want you more.”

But, as Sher notes, recognition alone does not guarantee a player becomes a household name beyond the sport. A clear and intentional social media, PR and commercial strategy for the award’s winner should already be in place to capitalise on the long-term impact, while retaining long-lasting partnerships is also key.

Winning the award a third time this week means more to Putellas from a sentimental and footballing, as opposed to commercial and media, standpoint as she closed a 14-year chapter with Barcelona by moving to London City in the summer. This Ballon d’Or hat-trick undoubtedly reinforces the 32-year-old’s legacy but considering her established status, there will be a smaller commercial uplift compared to her back-to-back victories earlier in the decade.

The biggest change Sher notes, however, is the commercial infrastructure surrounding women’s football. More brands are investing, meaning there are more ways to build products around an individual.

Given the rise in women’s football since Putellas’ 2022 win, the opportunity, Sher believes, lies in the renewed ability to reach new audiences and commercial markets, particularly in the United States. Next year’s World Cup in Brazil, where Spain will be defending champions and one of the favourites, is “perfect timing” for Putellas to continue building her brand, Sher continues. This time, she may tweak her message to tell a different story of longevity and consistency.

The more prestigious the women’s award becomes — though Hershman even suggests a rebrand away from the Ballon d’Or name, so it is not viewed as a derivative of the men’s version — the more players will gain commercially.

“You’ll end up potentially seeing the same arms race (as in men’s football) the more valuable that award feels, both personally and commercially,” Hershman says.

“It will only encourage more players to want to win accolades, more brands to want to be involved with more t

Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.