A pair of futból players are the world’s highest-paid athletes in 2016, according to Forbes’ new list, which factors in both salary and endorsements.
Cristiano Ronaldo leads all earners with $88 million, followed by Lionel Messi’s $81.4 million. Then comes LeBron at $77.2 million and Roger Federer $67.8 million.
The list is different at the top than last year’s, when Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao led all earners on the strength of their blockbuster fight last May. Mayweather drops from first to 16th in 2016 and Pacquiao falls from second to 63rd.
Here are some interesting notes from the 2016 list:
– Athletes from 23 countries are represented in the Top 100, but 65 are from the United States.
– In terms of salary alone, the list goes Ronaldo, then Messi, then… Joe Flacco, whose $40 million signing bonus is counted alongside his $4 million 2016 base salary.
– Federer earned $60 million from endorsements, more than any other athlete. He is followed by LeBron, Phil Michelson and Tiger Woods, who, thanks to $45 million in endorsements, is the 12th highest-paid athlete in the world despite earning only $274,000 in salary.
– Only two women crack the Top 100: Serena Williams (40th) and Maria Sharapova (88th).
– Eight sports make up 98 of the top 100: baseball, basketball, football, soccer, boxing, racing, tennis, golf. The last two spots are held by MMA’s Conor McGregor and track’s Usain Bolt. Hockey is shut out entirely.
– Cam Newton is the NFL’s highest-paid player (and the seventh-highest-earning athlete overall), with $53.1 million in total earnings. He’s followed by Eli Manning, Flacco, Tom Brady and Russell Wilson. Marcell Dareus is the top defensive player.
– Elite baseball players tend to have huge salaries but small endorsement profiles, which means they’re heavily represented on the list but absent from the top 30. Clayton Kershaw is the top-earning baseball player ($32 million) but ranks only 32nd overall (The second-highest paid baseball player is Cliff Lee, who has not played since 2014). Still, 23 baseball players make the list, more than any other sport.
– Jordan Spieth (9th) is the youngest person on the list. Michelson (8th) is the oldest.
Read and sort the whole list here.
