Cristiano Ronaldo retains top spot on Forbes’ highest-paid athletes’ list
Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, with earnings of £71.8m, retains the top spot on Forbes’ highest-paid athletes’ list.
The top 100 earned a total of £2.40bn over the last months, a slight decrease from last year’s earnings £2.43bn. Endorsement income also experienced a b a decline, down 4% to £685mil this year.
Before Ronaldo, the best-paid sports star was Tiger Woods or Floyd Mayweather for 15 straight years. Woods ranks No 17 this year, while Floyd Mayweather didn’t make the cut because he hasn’t had a fight in the last 12 months.
“Massive TV contracts are fuelling bigger salaries across team sports, pushing the entry level to qualify for the top 100 athletes higher than ever, but the retirement of several prolific endorsers like Peyton Manning and Kobe Bryant dented sponsorship income this year,” Kurt Badenhausen, senior editor, Forbes Media.
The list of elite athletes consists of players from 11 different sports. Basketball dominates the list with a record 32 NBA players among the top 100, up from in 2016, followed by baseball with 22 players, American football with 15 and football with nine.
There are 21 countries represented this year with Americans (63) the most prevalent thanks to sky-hi salaries in basketball, American football, and baseball.
Six Brits landed in the top-100, led by golfer Rory Mc at No 6 with £39 million.
Forbes Rich List 2017
Athlete Sport
Cristiano Ronaldo Football
LeBron James Basketball
Lionel Messi Football
Roger Federer Tennis
Kevin Durant Basketball
Rory McIlroy Golf
Andrew Luck American Football
Stephen Curry Basketball
James Harden Basketball
Lewis Hamilton Motor Racing
