Top 10 Highest Paid
Athletes Of The World In 2022
Lionel Messi leads this Forbes list for the second time.
Previous time he did the same was in 2018. His archrival,
Cristiano Ronaldo is in the third position with a total
earning of 115 million dollars. In the second position is
Lebron James, who plays for Los Angeles Lakers with a 121
million dollars income.
Together, the top 10 highest paid sports person of the
world garnered 992 million dollars. It is also worth
mentioning that these athletes earned over five hundred
million dollars in the form of appearances, endorsements,
licensing fees, equity stakes, memorabilia, and cash returns
from various businesses they have.
Top 10 List Of The Highest Paid Athletes
On-field income - 75 million dollars and Off-field
income - 55 million dollars.
Lionel Messi tops the group of athletes who together earned
over 990 million dollars in the last 12 months. Lionel Messi
having pre-tax earning of 130 million dollars claimed the
top spot in annual ranking of athletes with the highest pay
packages, published by Forbes.
Lionel has strong endorsement portfolio that consists of
Pepsico, Budweiser, Adidas, and more.
On-field income - 41 million dollars and Off-field income -
80 million dollars.
James was seen in Space Jam - A New Legacy movie last year.
Recently, James sold out minority stake in production
company named, Spring Hill for 725 million dollars
valuation.
On-field income - 60 million dollars and Off-field income -
55 million dollars.
Earning power of Ronaldo is based on strong social media
following he has with about 690 million followers on various
social media platforms, like Twitter, Facebook, and
Instagram. This is why he's able to claim very high
sponsorship rates from brands such as Clear Shampoo,
Herbalife, and Nike.
On-field income - 70 million dollars and Off-field income -
25 million dollars.
His income includes endorsements from Red Bull, Puma, and
more.
On-field income - 45 million dollars and Off-field income -
47 million dollars.
No other NBA player made more salary than Stephen this
season. Last year, he signed an extension of four years with
Golden State Warriors for the value of 215 million dollars.
Additionally, he invested in blockchain last December.
On-field income - 42 million dollars and Off-field income -
50 million dollars.
Kevin is a star player for the Brooklyn Nets and has a
endorsement of 28 million dollars with Nike. Additionally,
he has endorsements with Coinbase and more. He also has a
media company by the name Boardroom and an investment firm.
On-field income - 0.7 million dollars and 90 million dollars
as Off-field income.
Former number one tennis player is associated with brands
such as Rolex and Uniqlo. He also invested in a growing shoe
brand recently and the Swiss shoe brand company raked in
over six hundred billion dollars when it went public.
On-field income - 85 million dollars and Off-field income -
5 million dollars.
Apart from income from the ring, he has a taco restaurant
and Hennessey partnership. He also plans to launch gas
station chain.
On-field income - 31 million dollars and Off-field income -
52 million dollars.
He is the owner of multiple production companies and has
also co-founded a NFT platform last year. Fox Sports has
already lined up Brady for a commentator role when he
retires and he will earn over 375 million dollars in the
next 10 years in that role. That will be more than what he
has earned in all 22 NFL seasons.
On-field income - 39 million dollars and Off-field income -
41 million dollars.
He is the only athlete in the top 10 list who is still in
the twenties. December 2020 he signed a five-year contract
with Milwaukee Bucks for 228 million dollars. This was the
largest contract as per total value till date. His
endorsements include Google Pixel 6 Phone, Whatsapp, and
more.
To develop this list Forbes considered salaries and prize
money for calculating On-field income. While licensing
income, appearance fees, memorabilia, and sponsorship deals
are part of Off-field income.