Indian ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill beats Cristiano Ronaldo in 50 Most Marketable Athletes list 2026Scroll down to read the full story.
Published: October 30, 2026, 4:25 PM IST
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Shubman Gill beats Cristiano Ronaldo in 50 Most Marketable Athletes List 2026 (Image – X)
SportPro have released their list of the 50 most popular athletes of 2026The list includes well-known athletes from a range of sports but some big names aren’t on it this yearAmong the cricketers, India’s ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill has achieved the top spotHe is 13th and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, football superstar, is 14th.
The list has also seen a change in the number of women playersThis year, 16 women have made it to the top 50, while 20 women were part of the list last yearHowever, women have taken the first two spots this timeBelarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka has secured the top positionShe is the fourth woman and the third tennis player to finish at the top of SportPro’s list since it started in 2010.
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Shubman Gill takes four net bowlers with him to prepare for New Zealand series on his own expense
American-born Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu has taken the second spotGreek basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo is placed thirdManchester City striker Erling Haaland is the only football player in the top 10Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz has also made it to the top five.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still one of the biggest names in world football at 41 years oldHe is also the most followed athlete on InstagramHowever, he is placed 14th in the list just behind Shubman GillGill’s place in the rankings shows his growing name and popularity in world cricketHe is also seen as a player who could become one of the biggest faces of cricket in the coming years.
Meanwhile, three of India’s most famous cricketers have failed to make it to the top 50 this yearVirat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni are not part of the listAmong the three, Dhoni is ranked highest at 83rd placeKohli is placed 85th, while Rohit is at 90th.
SportPro prepared this year’s list by looking at three main points: Brand Equity, Momentum and Commercial TrajectoryThese points help measure an athlete’s brand value, popularity and chances of getting more business deals in the futureThe list looks at how players are known and followed by fans, along with their value outside their sport.
“The 2026 edition of SportsPro’s 50 Most Marketable Athletes, powered by NorthStar, ranks athletes on a 100-point NorthStar Marketability Score built from three scoring pillars: Brand Equity (45 points), Momentum (40 points) and Commercial Trajectory (15 points)As such, the model reads three things together: the equity an athlete has built, the momentum behind it, and the room they still have to grow,” SportPro’s report said.
“Behind the score sit 27 defined marketability drivers, informed by several hundred data points per athlete and more than 3,000 brand partnership recordsIn total, an expanded pool of 1,202 athletes across 70 sports was considered, with evidence collected from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026Of those, 247 were assessed in full to determine the final rankings,” the report added.
