Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Cristiano Ronaldo, soccer’s most expensive player, can’t match the sales boom David Beckham triggered at Real Madrid.

Sales of Adidas AG team jerseys are as much as 75 percent lower than when Beckham joined in 2003, according to managers of six sports apparel stores in Madrid. Vendors say Spain’s worst recession in 60 years and an unemployment rate of 19.3 percent is to blame.

“The year Beckham came was amazing, even confectionery shops were putting his face on cakes,” said Isabel Botia, who has managed the Don Deporte store in the Salamanca district of Madrid with her husband for 22 years. “We were sold out” of team jerseys. “Now we always have shirts in reserve.”

Real Madrid, which gets a cut of uniform sales, said Sept. 20 it expects a 3.5 percent rise in total revenue to 421.7 million euros ($626 million) in the year through June 2010. Team income soared 27 percent in the year after the acquisition of Beckham from Manchester United, when 22 percent of revenue was from sales of team gear.

Beckham joined Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007. Real Madrid signed Ronaldo for a world-record 80 million pounds ($133 million) from United in June, three times as much as the former England captain cost. The Portuguese forward, the 2008 FIFA world player of the year, scored nine goals in seven games before injuring his ankle in September.

New Contracts

It will take at least a year before new sponsorship accords kick in for Real Madrid following Ronaldo’s arrival, club officials said Sept. 20. In August, the team signed an improved deal with jersey sponsor Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG that takes effect next season. Real Madrid is also seeking to improve its accord with Adidas, which ends in 2012.

Retail sales in Spain have been falling since March 2008 as unemployment soared after the collapse of a decade-long property boom. Spain’s economy will shrink again next year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Even so, Real Madrid spent a record $360 million on off-season signings, also luring Brazil’s Kaka, France’s Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso of Spain. It secured bank loans totaling 151.5 million euros repayable over six years to finance the spree.

Club President Florentino Perez said in May he planned the outlay to kick-start a team that failed to reach the Champions League quarterfinals in each of the past five seasons and help generate more income.

Real Madrid should focus on expanding economies like China’s to boost television, sponsorship and jersey income, according to Simon Chadwick, director of the Centre for the International Business of Sport at the U.K.’s Coventry University.

Disposable Income

About half of all Real Madrid jerseys are sold in Spain, and about 7 percent in the second-biggest market, China, an Adidas official said.

“They have to look to places where there is more disposable income,” Chadwick said. “It won’t be easy. In China, Real Madrid is competing with luxury goods brands like Apple and Chanel.”

Emilio Butragueno, Real’s director of institutional relations, said he supports a plan to bring forward the kickoff of some Spanish league matches to 3 p.m. to suit Chinese television, sports newspaper Marca reported Sept. 25. Games typically start at 9 p.m. in Spain, which is 4 a.m. in China. Club officials weren’t available for comment for this story.

To be sure, Ronaldo is still helping sell as many as 100 Real Madrid jerseys a day at an Adidas store popular with tourists near the Plaza Mayor in downtown Madrid, Miguel Nieto, a store manager said. Adidas declined to give official data on sales of the team shirt.

More Scope

Ronaldo also has more scope to boost his brand than the 34- year-old Beckham, who is nearing the end of his career, Chadwick said. The club hasn’t had the chance to show off Ronaldo with a tour of Asia or the Middle East yet, he added.

Real Madrid will boost sales if its on-field performance becomes more consistent, according to Eugenio Martinez, who owns the Futbol 100% store near Madrid’s Las Ventas bullring. The team lost 4-0 to third-tier Alcorcon on Oct. 27 in the opening game of a Spanish Cup match-up.

It’s second in the Spanish league, one point behind archrival Barcelona, after scoring 26 goals in 10 games and level with AC Milan atop their Champions League group. Real beat cross-town rival Atletico Madrid 3-2 on Nov. 7.

Martinez said Real Madrid jersey sales are about 20 percent lower than during the Beckham era, when he played alongside Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Brazilian striker Ronaldo.

“There was a spike when Cristiano Ronaldo signed in the summer but there’s not such a big demand now,” Martinez said. “The economic crisis is taking its toll.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Duff in Madrid at at aduff4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 05:25 EST