You Won’t Believe How Much The Highest Paid Athletes In The World Make

Sports stars across the spectrum are known for their high earning capacity. Based on the 2020 Forbes report of highest-paid athletes, the top 20 earners had representation across sports including tennis, soccer, basketball, football, auto racing, golf, boxing and mixed martial arts.

Their multi-million-dollar earnings are often criticized for being obscene but are perhaps justified given the viewership and sports fanaticism across the board. One such example is Juventus—the Italian football club—which sold 520,000 Ronaldo jerseys in under 24 hours, bringing in a whopping $60 million.

We took a look at of few of the biggest earners across different sports to understand just how they make so much:

5 of the Highest-Paid Athletes in The World

Roger Federer

Federer, the Swiss-born tennis champion, is the highest-earning sports star in the world. According to Forbes, Federer raked in a staggering $106.3 million, with a mere $6.3 million from his tennis winnings.

So, where is the other $100 million coming from?

The 20-time grand slam winner has a small but lucrative list of partnerships, including luxury brands such as Rolex, Mercedes Benz and Moët & Chandon.

Some of the more surprising collaborations include the world's biggest pasta brand, Barilla, and Japanese retailer, Uniqlo. He has stayed loyal to his home country with partnerships with telecommunications operator Sunrise, Swiss chocolatier Lindt and Credit Suisse—the Zurich based investment bank and financial services firm—a deal reported to be worth $20 million.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Hot on Federer's trail is Portuguese football hero Cristiano Ronaldo, who earned a reported $105 million in 2020. Unlike Federer, more than half his earnings came from his contract with Juventus who he joined in 2018, after a nine-year stint with Real Madrid.

As the most followed athlete on social media, the football player has accrued the attention of many high-profile brands—securing endorsement deals with the likes of Tag Heuer, Nike, Clear and Herbalife Nutrition.

LeBron James

Lakers legend LeBron James, considered one of the greatest NBA players of all time, is next on the list with a total earning of $88.2 million and a reported $60 million coming from endorsement deals.

The four-time NBA MVP has partnerships with Nike, Coca Cola, 2K Sports, AT&T, Beats by Dr Dre, RIMOWA and Walmart.

On top of his impressive list of endorsements, James also has his own media company (Uninterrupted) and production company (SpringHill Entertainment), co-founded sports nutrition company Ladder and is an investor and endorser of the Blaze Pizza franchise. He has even dipped his toes into acting, starring in the 2015 comedy hit Trainwreck and lending his voice to Gwangi in the animated film Smallfoot.

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods, the 11-time PGA player of the year, earned a reported $62.3 million in 2020. Woods and LeBron both hold the 2nd place spot in terms of endorsements, making $60 million, respectively.

It's reported that Woods has accumulated an astounding $1.5 billion from endorsements, course design contracts and appearances since going pro in 1996.

His high earning endorsements include Nike, Rolex, Taylormade, Bridgestone, Monster Energy, Hero Motocorp and Upper Deck.

Kirk Cousins

Kirk Cousins, the NFL's highest-paid player between June 2019 and June 2020, brought in an impressive $60.5 million in 2020. Unlike other athletes in the top 10, Cousins made most of his money through his two-year $66 million contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings, which included a rather generous $30 million signing bonus.

The high-paid quarterback has several endorsements deals with Bose, Lumen Technologies and Nike.

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