- Floyd Mayweather – Boxing ($285m)
Floyd Mayweather tops the list as the world’s highest paid athlete for the fourth time in seven years, thanks to his $275 million payday for his August boxing match against UFC star Conor McGregor. The fight, which only took 36 minutes in the ring, generated 4.3 million pay-per-view buys and more than $500 million in total revenue from all sources. The fight pushed Mayweather’s career earnings to $1 billion, joining Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods as the only athletes to reach 10-figures in earnings. Mayweather padded his 2017 earnings with endorsement deals with Hublot and Tequila Avion ahead of the McGregor bout. Hublot released a limited edition of 100 watches, priced at $28,300, as well as 10 numbered editions of the Mayweather timepiece set entirely in yellow gold and adorned with more than 400 diamonds. The numbered edition cost $93,700 and both watches came with a boxing glove signed by Mayweather. - Lionel Messi – Football ($111m):
Lionel Messi (Argentina) Lionel Messi finished the just concluded football season as the top scoring player in the Top 5 European Leagues with 45 goals in all competitions. In November last year, Messi agreed to a contract extension that would keep him to Barcelona through 2020-2021, with an annual salary and bonus in excess of $80 million, thu making him the highest paid footballer. Messi also has other sponsorship deals with Adidas, Gatorade, Pepsi, Ooredoo, Huawei and Hawkers. This put his wealth at $111 million.
- Cristiano Ronaldo – Football ($108m)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) Real Madrid football star, Ronaldo, scored 44 goals in 43 competitions in the past season, coupled with his fifth Ballon d’Or and his fifth Champions League title to his trophy shelf. His current contract with the Spanish giant is set to pay him over $50 million for the next three years. Ronaldo currently has a lifetime Nike contract which is worth over $1billion. He also has an array of other sponsorship deals with Herbalife, EA Sports, American Tourister among others, coupled with a growing line of CR7 branded products, including underwear, fragrance etc. He remains the most popular athlete in the world with 322 million social media followers.
- Conor McGregor – Mixed Martial Arts ($99m)
UFC’s biggest start McGregor occupies the fourth position, thanks to his 2017 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, who banked an estimated $85 million from the fight, more than five times his previous top paycheck. The Irishman signed a slew of deals over the past 12 months with the buzz around the Mayweather fight. His current partners are Burger King, Beats by Dre, Monster Energy, David August, BSN, Anheuser-Busch, HiSmile and Betsafe. He also has a residency deal with the Wynn Las Vegas for all of his after-parties, and his digital properties, Conor McGregor FAST Program, MacMoji App, MacTalk App and the Mac Life, also generate cash. - Neymar – Football ($90m)
Brazilian football star, Neymar in August 2017, signed a five year contract with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) worth a total cash deal of more than $600 million, out of which $250 million was paid to his former club Barcelona to release from his contract, while the balance would be paid in salary through his playing contract that would last till June 2022. The 26-year old works off the pitch with global sponsors Nike, Red Bull, Gillette, McDonalds and Beats by Dre. He was the first soccer player to have his own custom Air Jordan sneakers made by the Swoosh. - LeBron James – Basketball ($85.5m)
American NBA basketball star James, is a four-time MVP, who has made it to the NBA Finals eight straight years and nine times overall. Recently, the NBA star broke Micheal Jordan’s long-standing record of consecutive games with double-digit points and became the youngest player to reach 30,000 career points. He has sponsorship deals with Nike, Coca-Cola (Sprite), Beats by Dre, Kia Motor, Imtel and Blaza Pizza where he owns 17 of the U.S based fastest growing franchise. James’ Nike signature sneakers are the best-selling among active NBA players. James also owns other investments such as SpringHill Entertainment and Uninterrupted, a media company. Also, he owns a 2% stake in English club, Liverpool, through his partnership with Fenway Sports Group, all of which has helped increase his financial revenue. - Roger Federer – Tennis ($77.2m)Federer is sometimes regarded as the greatest men’s tennis player of all time, with the recent addition of two majors to his trophy shelf, bringing it to a record total of 20. He recently returned to the No. 1 world ranking briefly in 2018, becoming the oldest by more than three years to reach the ATP top ranking. Federer has won $116 million in prize money in his career, but the total is dwarfed by his off-court earnings from appearances and endorsements. Mercedes-Benz and Lindt renewed their deals with Federer at the end of 2017. He added pasta brand Barilla as a sponsor last year in a deal worth as much as $40 million. Many of Federer’s sponsor relationships run a decade-plus. His partners include Nike, Wilson, Credit Suisse, Mercedes, Rolex, Lindt, Jura, Moet & Chandon, Sunrise and NetJets. His eponymous foundation has raised more than $40 million with a goal to educate one million children in Africa by the end of 2018.
- Stephen Curry – Basketball ($76.9m)
The two-time MVP signed the NBA’s first $200 contract last summer with the Warriors worth $201 million. The five-year deal tripled Curry’s salary the past season and was top in the NBA list for the first time. His endorsement partners include Under Armour, Chase, Vivo, eHi, Nissan/Infiniti, Brita, Bubble and JBL and generate an estimated $42 million in off-court income for Curry. Sony Pictures announced a multi-year development and production deal with Curry this year. - Matt Ryan – American Football ($67.3m)
American football player Ryan became the first player in the NFL to earn $30million per year in May, when the Falcons locked up their franchise quarterback through 2023. The deal set new records for average salary ($30 million), total value ($150 million), guaranteed money ($100 million) and signing bonus ($46.5 million, with half deferred to April 2019). Ryan won the 2016 NFL MVP, while leading the league in passing and getting the Falcons to the Super Bowl. The MVP and Super Bowl raised his marketing profile. His robust endorsement profile includes big brands like Nike, Gatorade, Delta Airlines, IBM, - Matthew Stafford – American Football ($59.5m)Stafford signed the richest contract in NFL history last summer (since exceeded by Jimmy Garoppolo and Matt Ryan). The five-year deal is worth $135 million with $60.5 million guaranteed. The $50 million signing bonus included $34 million at the time of signing in August 2017 and $16 million at the start of 2018. Stafford was the #1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft and a Pro Bowler in 2014. He led the NFC in passing yards and set an NFL record as the fastest to 3,000 completions for his career (125 games). Stafford endorses Nike, PepsiCo, Fanatics, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Ford Motor, Panini and St. Joe’s Hospital.
