Real Madrid Reportedly Sells $34M Worth Of James Rodríguez Shirts

Real Madrid has "reportedly sold an incredible 345,000 James Rodríguez replica shirts" since signing the player last week, according to Simon Rice of the London INDEPENDENT. Figures from Euromericas Sport Marketing indicated that in the 48 hours after Rodríguez was introduced by Real Madrid, £20M ($34M) worth of shirts were sold. Euromericas CEO Gerardo Molina was quoted by Spanish newspaper Sport as saying, "The expectation is that the player (James) will sell product at the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo, who has sold over one million shirts since arriving at Real Madrid." The sales "ensure a quick return for Real Madrid on the huge fee they paid Monaco for the striker" (INDEPENDENT, 7/25).