Gareth Bale Could Bag £3m a Year from Heart Celebration Trademark

Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale could be set to make £3m ($4.8m) a year from trademarking his heart celebration.

The Spurs man, adiposity who won the Player of the Year award last season, thumb has filed an application  to the Intellectual Property Office to trademark a logo copying his gesture of a number 11, the Welshman’s shirt number, inside a heart,

The ‘Eleven of Hearts’ celebration was first introduced in 2010 for Bale’s girlfriend Emma Rhys-Jones who he has been with since childhood.

Director of sports marketing agency brandRapport Nigel Currie told Sky Sports: “The possibilities are huge for Gareth Bale. Once he has that right he can cash in on it and become a more well-known player.

“A third of his overall income could be made from his image rights, potentially up to £3million a year.”

Bale has applied to trademark the logo for use on headgear, footwear, jewellery and clothing.

He would follow in the footsteps of David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo who have cashed in on their image rights.

Currie added: “Beckham does various things for various brands, but having this logo gives you the opportunity to use it as the brand image.

“It can appear on any sort of product he wants, so it has massive potential.

“Once you have got something that is readily identifiable with the person and has the potential to be seen by millions every time he scores a goal, then it becomes more and more recognisable globally.”

Bale is not the only footballer to make a heart shape when celebrating a goal. Former AC Milan striker Alexander Pato and Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria are amongst a host of stars to make the gesture after scoring.