The top 100 highest-paid athletes in the world include players from 10 sports and 24 countries. They earned $4.46 billion in total income, including $3.24 billion in salary and prize money, as well as $1.23 billion off the field or court from endorsements, licensing, memorabilia and appearances over the last 12 months, based on Sportico estimates. LeBron James leads the men, while Naomi Osaka is the highest-paid woman. NFL schedule release: The 10 must watch matchups of the 2022 season The NFL schedule is out. Mackenzie Salmon gives you the 10 must watch games of the 2022 season. Paris Saint-Germain striker Lionel Messi is the world's highest paid athlete for the second time, according to Forbes' annual list of the highest-paid athletes. Messi made $130 million between May 1, 2021 and May 1, 2022 before taxes. The magazine's methodology is based on talks with industry insiders, agents for the athletes and overall compensation including prize money, salaries and bonuses. The top 50 athletes athletes combined to take home almost $1 billion over the last 12 months. Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is second on the list, with $121.2 million, earning $41.2 million in basketball salary and $80 million off the court. The only baseball player on the list is Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who made $49.5 million to come in at 23rd. There are no hockey players on the list and only two women cracked the top 50: Tennis stars Naomi Osaka (No. 19, $52.5 million) and Serena Williams (No. 31, $45.3 million). NEVER MISS A MOMENT: Follow our sports newsletter for daily updates Forbes' highest-paid athletes(May 1, 2021 to May 1, 2022) 1. Lionel Messi (soccer), $130 million 2. LeBron James (NBA), $121.2 million 3. Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer), $115 million 4. Neymar (soccer), $95 million 5. Stephen Curry (NBA), $92.8 million 6. Kevin Durant (NBA), $92.1 million 7. Roger Federer (tennis), $90.7 million 8. Canelo Alvarez (boxing), $90 million 9. Tom Brady (NFL), $83.9 million 10. Giannis Antetokounmpo (NBA), $80.9 million
For much of 2020, the world’s leading athletes were sidelined, working for reduced pay, playing to empty seats or isolated in competitive bubbles designed to thwart a pandemic that has sapped billions of dollars from professional sports. Still, for the best of the best, things couldn’t be better—at least in terms of their financial heft. The ten highest-paid athletes in the world took home pretax gross earnings of $1.05 billion during the past 12 months, 28% more than last year’s top earners. The combined haul falls just a few million short of the $1.06 billion record set in 2018, the 12-month window in which boxer Floyd Mayweather earned $285 million, almost all of it from his 2017 pay-per-view fight with Conor McGregor. This year, McGregor lands the winning punch, having leveraged his unmatched popularity in mixed martial arts to build a lucrative hustle outside UFC’s Octagon. The brash McGregor collected a total of $180 million over the last 12 months; most of that comes from his recent sale of his majority stake in whiskey brand Proper No. Twelve to Proximo Spirits for $150 million. It’s the 32-year-old’s first time at No. 1 and his second appearance in the top ten (he landed at No. 4 with $99 million in 2018 after the fight against Mayweather). McGregor clearly wants to put his money to work even beyond booze: He has floated the far-fetched notion of buying Manchester United, the Premier League’s most valuable team, in recent tweets. Adding in his endorsements, McGregor made $158 million outside of his fighting career over the last 12 months, becoming only the third athlete, after Roger Federer and Tiger Woods, to earn more than $70 million off the field in a single year while still actively competing. Three other athletes also surpassed $100 million in total earnings this year: soccer stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and NFL quarterback Dak Prescott. Messi, whose off-the-pitch drama with FC Barcelona last summer was followed by media reports of the club’s dire financial state and the revelation that his contract was worth $674 million, sets a record for soccer players with his 2021 total of $130 million. Prescott, with $107.5 million, breaks the record for NFL players thanks to a $66 million signing bonus from the Dallas Cowboys. The four on this year’s list join only five other athletes—Federer, Mayweather, Neymar, Manny Pacquiao and Woods—to have made more than $100 million in a single year. Previously, the most $100 million earners to appear on one list was three, accomplished in 2018, 2019 and 2020. TEN YEARS OF THE TOP TENLeBron James was just shy of joining that elite group. The Los Angeles Lakers star took home $96.5 million, a record for NBA players. Another record set in 2021: the $75 million cutoff to qualify for the top ten, beating the previous high-water mark of $65.4 million from 2019. This year’s top ten also made a combined $512 million off the field, crushing the previous record of $407.5 million from 2020. That isn’t to say that Covid-19 didn’t take its toll on athletes’ earnings. Soccer players at many clubs, including Messi, had their wages cut. Major League Baseball salaries were prorated last year as the season was shortened to 60 games, from the usual 162. In the NBA, two shortened seasons and empty arenas prompted emergency changes to the league’s agreement with players. Adjustments to the escrow system, coupled with dramatically lower game-day revenue, mean player salaries will almost certainly end up reduced by 20% this season. That translates to a haircut of more than $7 million for both James and Kevin Durant, who lands at No. 10 this year with $75 million. But with athletes making more than ever off the field, the drop is more nuisance than disaster. MethodologyForbes’ on-the-field earnings figures include all prize money, salaries and bonuses earned between May 1, 2020, and May 1, 2021. In cases where players continue to be paid beyond May for a regular season that is typically concluded by then, as in the NBA and European soccer, we assign the full season of salary. We ignored salary and bonuses that NBA players earned for playing in the league’s bubble last summer; the figures in this year’s list reflect only the 2020-21 NBA season, with a 20% cut from base salaries because of the league’s escrow adjustment. Off-the-field earnings figures are an estimate of sponsorship deals, appearance fees and licensing income for the 12 months through May 1, plus cash returns from any businesses operated by the athlete, based on conversations with industry insiders. We do not deduct for taxes or agents’ fees. Our list includes athletes active at any point during our time frame. With additional reporting by Justin Birnbaum, David Dawkins, Christina Settimi, Ariel Shapiro and Madeline Berg. |