Cristiano Ronaldo again topped the list of the world’s highest-paid athletes with total income of $260 million in 2024, according to sports industry news site Sportico, but there were no women in the top 100.
The leading 100, dominated by players from soccer, the NBA, NFL, golf and boxing, earned an estimated $6.2 billion in total income last year. The figure includes $4.8 billion in salary and prize money, plus $1.4 billion in endorsements.
Former U.S. Open tennis champion Coco Gauff was the top-earning female athlete last year at $30.4 million, well short of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daniel Jones who squeezed in at number 100 with a total income of $37.5 million.
Ronaldo’s lucrative contract with Saudi Arabian soccer team Al-Nassr ensured he retained top spot for a second straight year after he moved to the Saudi Pro League in December 2022.
Sportico said the Portugal forward, who celebrated his 40th birthday last week, earned a hefty $215 million in wages while he also made $45 million in endorsements.
Ronaldo is so far ahead of the other athletes in the world that Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who is second on the list, earned $153.8 million in comparison — more than $100 million short of the five-times Ballon d’Or winner.
British boxer Tyson Fury, who lost to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in a heavyweight clash in December, is third on the list at $147 million.
The top five are rounded out by Inter Miami’s Argentina captain Lionel Messi ($135 million) and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James ($133.2 million) — the only 40-year-old currently playing in the NBA.
The top 100 is made up of athletes from eight sports and hailing from 27 countries.
While American Gauff, who is only 20, could climb up the list in the years to come, there have been other women athletes who would have cracked the list in the past.
Business magazine Forbes said Japan’s four-times Grand Slam tennis champion Naomi Osaka was the world’s highest-paid female athlete in 2022 after she pulled in $57.3 million in prize money and endorsements.
Retired tennis great Serena Williams, who won 23 singles majors, earned $41.8 million in 2021 according to Forbes. The American retired from the sport in 2022 at the U.S. Open.
(Reuters)
