Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the world’s two most popular footballers, who may be playing their last FIFA World Cup this year, are among the highest-paid athletes too.
Messi is ranked second with earnings of $122 million, followed by Ronaldo at third with yearly earnings of $115 million in Sportico’s 100 Highest-Paid Athletes in the World 2022 list. This includes their match salaries as well as endorsement earnings. Brazilian footballer Neymar ranked fourth with earnings of $103 million.
Basketball icon LeBron James, meanwhile, emerged as the highest-paid athlete in the world, with annual earnings of $126.9 million. A large chunk of this came from endorsements and royalty-based deals with brand partners, including Nike, PepsiCo, Walmart, AT&T, and even Crypto.com.
“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,” Sportico stated.
Interestingly, Team India’s Virat Kohli was the only cricketer to feature in the top 100. He ranked 61st, with earnings of $33.9 million, of which a lion’s share ($31 million) came from endorsements. Based on endorsement earnings alone, Kohli ranks 14th in the world.
The highest-paid female athlete in 2022 was tennis sensation Naomi Osaka, who was ranked 20th with annual earnings of $53.2 million. Serena Williams, who retired this year, was the second-highest paid female athlete, ranking 52nd with earnings of $35.3 million.
Tennis legend Roger Federer, who also hung up his boots this year, was the 8th highest-paid athlete, with earnings of $85.7 million. Federer, meanwhile, bagged the second-highest endorsement kitty of the year, trailing only LeBron James.
The NBA, in fact, dominated Sportico’s 2022 list with over 36 players featuring in the top 100.
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