Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward Lionel Messi has been named the world’s highest-paid athlete, with Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo sitting third, according to Forbes.
It is no surprise that the two arguably greatest of all time in the football world raked in the biggest amounts of cash, despite a disappointing season with their respective clubs.
Both players can boast of this position because of their on-field antics and their incredible marketability allowing for various endorsements to bring in the money.
Neymar is the only footballer that joined the duo in the top ten list, others are basketballers, tennis legends, American footballers, et al.
Here are the Forbes top 10 highest-paid athletes, according to Forbes.
1. Lionel Messi: £130million
Forbes said Messi made well over £100million in pre-tax gross earnings over the last 12 months. Most of that came from his salary at Barca and then PSG, but a new deal with blockchain fan token creators Socios, as well as his pre-existing sponsorships with Adidas, Budweiser and Pepsi made him top the list.
2. LeBron James: $121.2 million
NBA legend LeBron James may not have had a season to remember on the court as the LA Lakers missed out on the playoffs, the 37-year-old, however, showed in the money field.
James will have picked up a tidy paycheque from starring in last year’s Space Jam: A New Legacy movie, more success from his YouTube talk show The Shop, and selling and re-investing in various assets.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo: $115 million
With a weekly wage of £500,000, Ronaldo’s highly emotional return to Manchester United his back pocket doesn’t seem to have taken much of a hit.
The 37-year-old Portuguese is just as marketable as ever, boasting the highest number of followers on Instagram with 439million, and hundreds of millions more on his other socials. Ronaldo earns roughly the same amount on and off the pitch.
4. Neymar: $95 million
In terms of how much he is revered as a player, Neymar is not on the same level as Messi or Ronaldo. Nevertheless, his bank account doesn’t seem to mind too much, with the Brazilian making more than Ronaldo every month.
Additionally, Neymar is a forward-looking investor, having spent roughly £737,000 on two NFTs from the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Neymar now owns the most expensive of all 10,000 of the highly sought-after ape tokens, with Ape 5269 costing 189.69 ETH.
5. Steph Curry: $92.8 million
Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry is the highest-paid player in the NBA after signing a contract extension last August. The three-time NBA champion makes about £40m every year.
The 34-year-old also dabbed in NFTs and cryptocurrency, his net worth received a boost from a development deal with Comcast NBCUniversal for his production company Unanimous Media.
6. Kevin Durant: $92.1 million
Kevin Durant earns a healthy salary as the star man for the Brooklyn Nets and the basketballer earns more from his sponsorship with Nike, almost £23m to be precise.
Durant has too many investments to his name and has sponsorships with Coinbase and Weedmaps.
7. Roger Federer: $90.7 million
The undisputed tennis GOAT may not have played a competitive match in 2022, but he’s still the seventh best-paid athlete in the world.
The Swiss still promotes huge brands such as Uniqlo and Rolex and investment in shoe brand ON, which has been hugely successful since he became involved.
8. Canelo Alvarez: $90 million
Before his recent shock defeat to Dmitry Bivol, Canelo was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and he had the paycheques to prove it, he earned £32 million from his two pay-per-view fights before Bivol.
Despite several lucrative sponsorship deals, Canelo hopes to build up an empire through taco restaurants and gas stations, and he’s working with DAZN to promote fights in Mexico.
Forbes did not include his loss to Bivol in the tracking window.
9. Tom Brady: $83.9 million
Adding to his investment portfolio that includes an NFT platform, two production companies and a clothesline, Tom Brady is also set to take up a commentator role with Fox Sports.
Brady who is returning from retirement is set to earn over £300m over the next 10 years at Fox.
10. Giannis Antetokounmpo:$80.9 million
The youngest on the list, Giannis Antetokounmpo rounds off the top 10.
Fresh from his NBA championship success, The Milwaukee Bucks’ two-time MVP agreed on a new five-year contract in December 2020 worth a total of £186m.
In addition to its investment in WatchBox, which raised £135 million in total, the Greek Freak has deals with an NFT platform and Google’s Pixel 6 smartphone.
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
