If there was ever any question about poker’s popularity in the South American market, PokerStars recent announcement that it had signed retired Brazilian football superstar Ronaldo to be the latest member of “Team PokerStars SportStars” proved that poker is as popular as it’s ever been in the region – and growing more and more by the day.
In Brazil, Ronaldo is treated in the same reverential manner as two of the country’s other greatest sporting icons, football legend Pele and the late great Formula One racer Ayrton Senna. Like Pele, he’s considered one of football’s all-time greatest players with a number of player of the year awards and records to his name, including scoring the most goals in World Cup history.
PokerStars’ signing of Ronaldo also adds another top caliber athlete to the online poker room’s growing stable of athlete ambassadors. Less than a year ago, the company inked Spanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal and in recent months, Rafa has proven to be a formidable poker player despite only learning to play the game after signing with PokerStars.
In addition to Nadal, PokerStars’ “Team PokerStars SportStars” also includes German tennis legend Boris Becker, Dutch field hockey player Fatima Moreira de Melo, and Swedish olympic skier Marcus Hellner.
Now you can “The Phenomenon” to that list.
As part of his new status as PokerStars ambassador, Ronaldo will represent the online poker room in both online and live tournaments in Brazil in the coming months, as well as participate in advertising campaigns and marketing initiatives of PokerStars.
