Forbes Highest Paid Sports Stars
The 100 highest-paid athletes in the world earned a collective $2.75 billion over the last 12 months, up 5% versus one year ago. The rise is a result of rising salaries for elite players as exploding TV rights fees fuel higher revenues across sports around the world. Salary and prize money for the top 100 rose 9%, while total endorsement income was down 5% to $741 million with some companies re-evaluating the athlete-sponsor relationship in recent years after high-profile blowups with iconic athletes like Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong. The entry point for the top 100 was $17.3 million compared to $16.4 million last year.
Now, we would be here all day if we went through the top 100, so below is the top 20, highest paid athletes in the world. Let us know your thoughts.
20 - Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls) £33.9 million
19 - Jon Lester (Chicago Cubs) £34.1 million
18 - Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) £35 million
17 - Fernando Alonso (McLaren F1) £34 million
16 - Ndamukogn Suh (Miami Dolphins) £38.6 million
15 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes F1) £39 million
14 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG) £39.1 million
13 - Novak Djokovic (Tennis) £48.2 million
12 - Rory McIlroy (Golf) £48.2 million
11 - Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers) £48.9 million
10 - Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers) £49.5 million
9 - Tiger Woods (Golf) £50.6 million
8 - Phil Mickelson (Golf) £50.8 million
7 - Kevin Durant (Okalahoma Thunder) £54.2 million
6 - LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) £64.8 million
5 - Roger Federer (Tennis) £67 million
4 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelon) £73.8 million
3 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) £79.6 million
2 - Manny Paquiao (Boxing) £160 million
1 - Floyd (MONEY) Mayweather (Boxing) £300 million
Now that is a lof of money.
