OT - World's Highest Paid Athletes
Forbes put out its list of highest paid athletes in the world. Unfortunately it's in an "in pictures" format, which makes review of the list clumsy. The time period is June 2011 to June 2012. Forbes article is here http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/06/18/mayweather-tops-list-of-the-worlds-100-highest-paid-athletes/
and the Forbes list is here http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45igdi/1-floyd-mayweather/#gallerycontent .
No surprise boxers top the list. And it's interesting to see that Tiger Woods is as high as No. 3 given his recent difficulties both on and off the course. And a relatively aged and less useful David Beckham comes in at No. 8 - maybe not surprising per se, but to have him above Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or any of a few dozen other soccer players around the world is counterintuitive.
I've pasted the top ten below. It's notable that there are as many cricketeers (2) as women on the top 100 list. It's also a bit of a difficult list to compile, as some athletes front load their contracts with signing bonuses, etc., which is difficult to accurately reflect in a table. Still, it's interesting.
1. Floyd Mayweather ($85 million)
2. Manny Pacquiao ($62 million)
3. Tiger Woods ($59.4 million)
4. Lebron James ($53 million)
5. Roger Federer ($52.7 million)
6. Kobe Bryant ($52.3 million)
7. Phil Mickelson ($47.8 million)
8. David Beckham ($46 million)
9. Cristiano Ronaldo ($42.5 million)
10. Peyton Manning ($42.4 million)
Ndamukong Suh at 14 surprised me. The man is a beast and was a high draft pick, but No. 14 is rarefied air. And I was surprised to see a motorcycle racer check in at No. 20. What jumps out to you as out of kilter here or on the full-blown list?
They made more money than anyone else.
Manny and Floyd get huge amounts of money from PPV buys in addition to a large guaranteed amount for the fight.
More -
Because Mayweather acts as his own promoter, he maximizes his earnings. His company, Mayweather Promotions, collects all of the revenue from tickets, pay-per-view and sponsorships and covers the costs, including the purse for his opponent. His earnings per fight is about 50% higher than Pacquiao, who is promoted by Top Rank, earns.
From - http://www.jconline.com/article/20120619/ENT/306190013/Floyd-Mayweather…
I'll be that guy as this is one of my pet peeves. Please read through this and try again.
I was also suprised by the boxers. I kind of thought boxing was on the decline. Almost everyone I know is much more into the UFC.
Valentino Rossi is no surprise at 20. I'm shocked he isn't higher. He has won 9 world titles, 7 in MotoGP which is the two wheeled equivalent of F1 racing. He is an icon in Italy and around the world (MotoGP is broadcast in just under 200 countries I believe). He also races WRC from time to time and could probably compete at a high level in open wheel racing. He's a really interesting and talented guy.
Thank you for pointing this out before me.
Depending on what he does when his contract is up (Honda/Yamaha, 99% sure Honda even though I would love to see him back at Yamaha) he may still have a shot at becoming the GOAT and surpassing Giacomi Agostini.
Agostini was a bit before my time, but my dad is a big fan and got his autograph on a model of his MV Agusta a few years ago at Mid Ohio when MV was the marque. It looks like Val is leaning towards Gresini Honda for next year. They've done really well putting Bautista on a competitive bike this year and I think Rossi would love to help put them over the top after they lost Simoncelli. I would love to see him win with Ducati, but I don't see that happening unless they have rain at every race this year.
The reason Beckham is higher than Ronaldo and Messi is because of endorsements. Many players make more money than Beckham in salary, but nobody matches Beckham's endorsement power, especially in the Far East and England.
Exactly. His Adidas contract that he signed when he came to the States was worth $500M. So any salary hit he took, he more than made up for in endorsements. Remember, that's just his Adidas sponsorship--not to mention his Burger King, Gilette, Armani, his clothing line, etc.
Do you remember Beckham's first big endorsement when he became a star in 1997 or so?
Brylcreem.
He's come a long way since then.
... surprises me -- or should I say impresses me. Considering he has had an irrelevant contribution in the sport for 7-8 years.
Also surprised to see no baseball players on the list.
...but for a very casual soccer fan such as myself I can say that I've heard of Beckham but I doubt that I could name another active soccer player.
I don't think its fair to call you a soccer fan, if you can't name any active player besides David.
I had to chuckle at the error in the listing for #68 - Prince Fielder:
Total earnings: $19.6 million
Salary/winnings: $19.3 million
Endorsements: $300,000 million <----apparently, Fielder endorses all products everywhere
Other Detroit athletes (aside from Suh):
58) Matthew Stafford
59) Miguel Cabrera
88) Justin Verlander
Michigan connection:
31) LaMarr Woodley
It is interesting to me that, for as much as people complain about salaries in the MLB, baseball players don't really start appearing with much regularity until the second half of the list.
As far as baseball players go, this sort of makes sense. They tend to not have the huge endorsement deals that football players do in the states (or futbol in other parts of the world).
I am shocked that Verlander isn't higher up the list. It seems like he has been everywhere since winning the Cy Young/MVP last year.
I would think that he would have been higher on the list, but most of his endorsements were in the off-season. The list probably includes 2011 (maybe some of 2012) income.
I'm not going to go and try and figure it out, but I'd guess it has more to do with the signing bonus than anything else. A lot of NFL contracts are essentially frontloaded with a large signing bonus. The signing bonus is paid at once but spread across years for salary cap purposes. I imagine that most of the NFL players mentioned in this list signed big contracts this year, and most of the same players will fall next year when they're just relying on salary.
Baseball players tend to have little in the way of signing bonus, and have their salary spread across the length of the contract as all money is guaranteed.
Kobe has been in some advertisements for Turkish airlines.
Kobe is huge overseas... not so much in the US.
I'm surprised no Formula 1 drivers were in the top 10.
Back in the day, Michael Schumacher was top 3 when he won 5 championships in a row, possibly number one for at least one year.
Haloti Ngata at #12?!
Sam Bradford over Tom Brady?!
And where is Derek Jeter?! Not even in the top 25?!
Note: Jeter is #31, and even without the $6 million paycut he took he'd still only move up to #20.
Guys like Ronaldo (and Messi, Robben, van Persie, Drogba...) must think its a crock that the highest paid futbol player in the world is a washed-up has-been now in the MLS.
Of course 99% of that caysh that Beckham makes is not from MLS but from endorsements. Nonetheless, just from a purely athletic comparison, if Beckham is "worth" $46M, then Messi is worth, what... a billion?
Then again, if Messi didn't look like a frickin' accountant or dentist, he might be making a billion.
I think that it would be a lesson for these guys to get better agents;
Not really going to shed tears about CR7 making $200K less per year (and by the way, Ronaldo looked freaking awesome against the Netherlands. Granted, the Dutch didn't really seem to want to defend Ronaldo at ALL, and most strikers would look incredible having the closest defender be 5' away from you).
Most athletes don't begrudge other athletes their $. And in his prime, Beckham was a world-class midfielder and a wizard @ setpieces.
Have had a movie named after them. They need to get "Rock it like Ronaldo" made first before they start complaining.
Shoes like the Nike Zoom Kobe VII System.
Yes, that is the real name.
Edit - should be in response to the guy asking how Kobe makes so much $$$.
Mayweather makes enough money to buy the concessions at the jail where he currently resides, and get himself some better food and water.
I was surprised Joe Mauer was the #2 ballplayer on the list. Then Jeter, Ichiro and CC Sabathia - the first pitcher.
Seems like Messi needs a better agent. If nothing else, he should be getting a bigger cut of all the FCB merchandise he's selling.
truth. time to cash in.
More than a few of them are going to end up in financial trouble after their careers are over.
I hate when websites make you click through slides to see the list. Stupid internet ad money.
/end rant
October 23rd, 2012 at 4:43 AM ^
I agree to that. These men are the best payed athletes in the whole world. Lucky for these men to have such kind of incomes. Their talents are their keys to their success. Forbes is the best athlete for me. In boxing category, Manny Pacquiao is my favorite.
November 22nd, 2012 at 12:37 PM ^
I really can't believe that Decemberr is going to be this good. First it's Christmas! Second, I can watch Pacquiao vs Marquez online in early December.
I'll probably use a Pacquiao vs Marquez live stream to watch the fight because I have to watch my little cousing on that night.
I really hope I find a good Pacquiao vs Marquez stream. Tips Anyone?
December 13th, 2012 at 3:55 PM ^
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