Leo Messi has once again struck gold as the world's most media-worthy player. According to the latest report of the group of research at Economics, Sports and Intangibles (ESI) of the University of Navarra, the Argentine star has 21.6 points of media value. His team, FC Barcelona, also consolidates its position as the most valued club; however, the arrival of Florentino Pérez at Real Madrid has meant an incomparable rise of the white team that takes it to the podium, in second place.

The charismatic Messi is followed in the ranking by the Merengues' star signing, Cristiano Ronaldo, with 19.6 points. England's Wayne Rooney, with 13.6 points, takes third place in the ranking, which is dominated by players from the Spanish league, with five places among the world's top 10 most media-acclaimed players (Messi, Ronaldo, Kaka, Xavi and Ibrahimovic), thus ousting the Premier League.

By clubs, Barcelona is comfortably in first place with 96.6 points in media value as a result of the historic collection of titles won in 2009. However, its main competitor, Real Madrid, reached 83 points, which represents a revaluation of 70%, having moved up from fifth place with 48 points.

According to the author of report, Francesc Pujol, "there has been no similar precedent of increased media value in such a short period of time in the five seasons in which we have been carrying out these programs of study".

In the coaches' category, Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United), with 36.4 media value points, tops the list, followed by Rafa Benitez (Liverpool) with 27.1. José Mourinho (Inter Milan) and six-time champion Pep Guardiola are in third and fourth place. Further behind is Real Madrid's Manuel Pellegrini in sixth place with 17.2 points.

Unprecedented rise of the whites

The ESI University of Navarra's programs of study shows a close relationship between the media value of clubs and their ability to generate revenue. "Media value is an excellent measure of brand value in the field of elite sport. Therefore, Real Madrid's new positioning augurs a greater commercial potential, which should make it possible to meet the cost of the extraordinary investments made with this summer's signings," says the professor at School of Economics and Business Sciences. "This initial boost will only be maintained with success in the Champions League in the coming seasons.

The rapid rise also has repercussions in the Madrid dressing room, since players who have been in the squad for more than a year generated 69% of the media value last season, whereas now they represent only 43.2% of the total. In fact, the latest additions have led to the loss of weight of veteran players, except for Higuaín and Marcelo. Thus, Casillas, Raúl, Guti and Sergio Ramos have seen their notoriety diminished.

Global presence

The white club has also increased its international presence exhibition . For example, in the South American market it has become the media reference in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Paraguay, countries in which Barcelona and Manchester United were leaders last season. Despite this, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and Uruguay continue to be dominated by the Blaugrana, while the English club is no longer the leader in any South American country.

Ferguson's team is severely affected by the departure of CR9, who made it the media leader in almost every Asian and many English-speaking countries around the world during the previous campaign. Its lack of leadership is demonstrated by the loss of hegemony in 13 of the 21 territories where it was issue one and among which are Brazil, USA, Portugal or China. 

Elections at Camp Nou

The ESI University of Navarra is currently conducting a media monitoring study of the FC Barcelona elections which plans update until the voting takes place.

So far, between April 2009 and February 2010, the pre-candidate who has received the most attention is Jaume Ferrer, with 25% of media presence. Alfons Godall (23.5%) and Sandro Rosell (22.6%) are in second and third place.

Behind is Xavier conference room i Martin, with 10.6% of the news, and Ferran Soriano, with 8.9%. Likewise, Jaume Guixà and Agustí Benedito occupy the last positions with a media exhibition of 6.6% and 4.1%.

However, the current president, Joan Laporta, will be the main protagonist of the electoral process as evidenced by the fact that he is mentioned in news linked to the elections three times more than any other candidate. "This presence has increased in turn after announcing that once his sporting mandate is over he plans to develop his political degree program ".