Lionel Messi has dethroned Cristiano Ronaldo as the world’s highest-earning footballer according to Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, but both men were beaten to the top spot by boxer Floyd Mayweather.
The Portuguese footballer claimed the crown as the world’s best-paid athlete for the past two years while also edging perennial rival Messi to Fifa’s Player of the Year award in those years.
Messi, however, has now risen above Ronaldo on Forbes’ rich list. This is largely due to a contract extension with Barcelona that will keep him with the club through to 2020-21. With his new contract, Messi’s annual salary and bonus exceeded $80-million before taxes, making him the highest-paid player on the pitch this year. When this is coupled with the $27-million he earns through endorsement deals with Adidas, Gatorade, Pepsi and Huawei, the Argentinian ranks second on the overall list with $111-million.
Real Madrid star Ronaldo still ranks among the three top-earning athletes for the sixth straight year. He amassed a haul of $108-million over the past 12 months.
The Portuguese forward is soccer’s most marketable player. He has a lifetime Nike contract, which is worth upwards of $1-billion, and he has a number of other deals, with brands including Herbalife, EA Sports and American Tourister.
He has also been growing his CR7 line of branded products which includes shoes, underwear, fragrance, jeans, children’s clothing, hotels and soon-to-open restaurants in Brazil. This is reinforced by Ronaldo’s standing as the most popular athlete in the world on social media, with 322-million followers combined on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Brazilian star Neymar rounds up the top five. After leaving Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain, the soccer star jumped 13 spots to fifth with an income of $90-million, including $19-million from endorsement partners. The Brazilian forward’s contract with PSG was the main factor in his rise after the forward signed a five-year deal worth $350-million.
There are several other football stars that feature in the rich list. Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale is the next highest placed footballer; the Welshman comes in at No 35 with a total earning of $34.6-million.
Paul Pogba, with earnings of $29.5-million, comes in at 52nd on the list, while Brazilian midfielder Oscar comes in at 56th with earnings of $27.4-million, which is largely due to his mega-contract with Chinese club Shanghai SIPG.
Former Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is ranked 58th on the list with earnings of $27-million. Luis Suarez, 60th with $26.9-million, and Sergio Aguero at 86th with $23.5-million complete the footballers who make the cut for this year’s edition of the Forbes list of the World’s Highest-Paid Athletes.
Forbes’ rich list takeaways:
- Floyd Mayweather took the title of the richest athlete for the fourth time in seven years thanks to his mega-payday following his bout against UFC star Conor McGregor
- Mayweather earned $275-million for the fight and added $10m from endorsements
- The undefeated boxer joins Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods as sport’s only billionaire earners
- McGregor is fourth on the list after earning $85m for the fight and $14m extra in endorsements
- The cutoff to make the list is $22.9-million (up $1.5m from 2017)
- The top 100 earned $3.8-billion (a 23% increase from 2017)
- The top 100 has athletes from 22 countries (Americans dominate with 66)
- Endorsement earnings fell for the second straight year to $877-million
- Endorsement incomes are an estimate of sponsorships, appearance fees and licensing incomes
