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September 10, 2026
Ronaldo may be nearing retirement, but stepping away from football does not have to mean leaving the spotlight. With his well-known love of fishing, huge global following and natural on-screen presence, the Portuguese icon could have the ingredients for a successful post-retirement television career.
Now 41 years old and fresh out of another FIFA World Cup showing, it’s quite incredible that Cristiano Ronaldo continues to play football at a professional level – regardless of the overall quality of that professional competition. It’s a testament to his commitment to the sport and upholding his athletic ability. With his contract, reportedly the biggest in world football, winding down next summer, the legend has spoken to this possibly being his last. Retirement can be a tricky thing to wrangle for professional footballers – even those as long-serving and high-earning as Ronaldo. Many turn to their hobbies, some stay in the sport in other ways, and others bank on their celebrity in other forms of entertainment. Ronaldo might just have a shot at combining his favourite pastime and his celebrity next.
Paul Gascoigne - Gone Fishing:
Right now, reality television is enjoying huge audiences across a great many different kinds of genres. One of the most important staples of its rise as a part of TV was Deadliest Catch – the crab fishing show.
Soon, channels across the world wanted fishing shows, capturing either the hard work of professionals or the more adventurous and sporting side, with the latter often looking to charismatic celebrities to helm the show.
Extreme Fishing with Robson Green was a fine example of this across its five series and spin-offs. Now, it’s Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse headlining their own fishing show, which is much more relaxed than its predecessors.
These shows have become popular for the accessibility of the formula and the popularity of the headline celebrities. Plus, fishing is enjoying a swell of popularity in other corners of entertainment right now.
There are plenty of fishing games and TV shows out there, but it’s at its most titanic in online casino games. So popular are fishing slots that even the casino bonus features Fishin’ Frenzy The Big Catch 3 as its main imagery.
With the fishing feature at the core – which is where the free spins mode lets players catch fish of different values and level up for multipliers and more free spins – Big Bass, Fishin’ Frenzy, and several others have become huge hits.
The formula for reality fishing shows headlined by a celebrity is very well established, and fishing is a hit in entertainment right now. So, maybe Ronaldo could stay in the spotlight by helming his own fishing TV show.
There’s quite a famous quote from Ronaldo, obtained around six years ago. Speaking to Canal 11 on his 35th birthday, he said that by this age, “I thought I was going to be a fisherman in Madeira.”
In that interview, he of course went on to detail that he never thought he’d achieve what he had done and still be playing at the highest level – at that time, with Juventus.
Over the years, Ronaldo has posted several times to his many social media accounts with millions of followers about his fishing treks.
What could really give him an edge would be to tap into being multilingual. He doesn’t have to join the mountain of English-language shows, and could instead do them in Portuguese or Spanish to add another USP to the show.
He’s also charismatic and popular enough that getting his own show should be an easy pitch. Ronaldo fishing in his favourite spots of Madeira would be a fine place to start, and from there, he could travel the world to catch iconic fish in exotic locations...
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Al Nassr is on September 12, against Al Khaleej, for the Saudi Pro League. You can watch Al Khaleej vs Al Nassr, Real Madrid vs Inter, Barcelona vs Feyenoord, FC Porto vs Manchester City, Napoli vs Arsenal and Club Brugge vs Aston Villa, all matches provided from our live football game pages.
Al Nassr next game:
Al Khaleej vs Al Nassr kick-off time (12-09-2026):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 03:00
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 00:30
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) | UTC/GMT+4: 23:00
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 21:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 20:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 16:00
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 15:00
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 12:00
Sources: ronaldo7.net / espn.co.uk / time.com
