The World’s 10 Highest-Paid Athletes 2022

Lionel Messi leads a group that collectively earned over $ 990 million in 12 months, with the entry bar higher than ever.

_{BY BRETT KNIGHT}

Lionel Messi was only 17 years old when he started dressing for the FC Barcelona first division team, so it was more than a bit surprising when, after 17 seasons, he left his only professional home known to be transferred to Paris Saint-Germain. last August.

However, in a sense, this season marks a return to the territory known for the 34-year-old football superstar.

With a gross pre-tax of $ 130 million over the last 12 months, Messi ranks first in Forbes 's annual ranking of the highest paid athletes in the world, topping the list for the second time (another in 2019). Although Forbes estimates that Messi's salary has dropped by around $ 22 million since his last year with Barcelona (to $ 75 million this season at PSG), the huge increase in approvals helped him break the 12-month record. for a footballer posted last year when he finished second behind MMA fighter Conor McGregor.

Messi's big rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, who also switched teams in August from Juventus to Manchester United, is third this year with $ 115 million. In the middle is the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James with $ 121.2 million, breaking the $ 96.5 million record for an NBA player he set last year. James became the tenth athlete to reach $ 100 million in a year, a success that Messi and Ronaldo have achieved five times each.

TEN YEARS TOP TEN

The ten highest paid athletes in the world collectively earned $ 992 million in gross pre-tax revenue over the past 12 months, the third highest total on record.

Together, the ten highest paid athletes in the world have earned $ 992 million in the last 12 months, according to Forbes estimates . That's 6% less than 2021, but the decline is directly related to McGregor's $ 180 million in revenue last year, after raising about $ 150 million from sales of his Irish whiskey brand, Proper No.Twelve. (McGregor dropped to the top 10, but will appear in the full ranking of the 50 highest paid athletes for 2022, published later this month.)

This year’s collective total is the third highest in the record, after $ 1.05 billion in 2021 and $ 1.06 billion in 2018, when McGregor again changed the result with his super fight against Floyd Mayweather. And in a clear sign that the best sports stars are doing better than ever, the threshold to enter the top 10 this year is $ 80.9 million, posted by Milwaukee Bucks ’Giannis Antetokounmpo. This is an 8% increase from $ 75 million in 2021 and a 24% increase from $ 65.4 million in 2019, the previous record.

Off the field, the top ten athletes have earned approximately $ 500 million from approvals, appearances, recollections and licensing fees, as well as cash income from the businesses they operate and the equity shares they have sold. That's barely changed from last year’s record of $ 512 million.

Adding a cryptocurrency and NFT platform to the sports marketing equation helps offset McGregor's massive wage loss last year. In March, Messi signed a $ 20 million-a-year deal with Socios, a blockchain-powered "fan engagement" app. Further in the top ten, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers partnered with the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, while James and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets joined rivals Crypto.com and Coinbase.

Up or down, this is the serious part.

10 highest paid athletes in the world 2022

# 1 | $ 130 million

Lionel Messi

^{On the ground: $ 75 million Off the field: $ 55 million}

^{Age: 34 | Sports: Football | Argentine nationality}

Lionel Messi's $ 20 million-a-year partnership with Socios adds to a portfolio of sponsors that includes Adidas, Budweiser and PepsiCo. He also became the first ambassador of the Hard Rock International sportswear brand in a deal announced last June, helping Messi face Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United in off-field gains for the first time since 2013. Messi won Golden Ball in 2021 as man of the year. player. a world-class footballer, but he has had some tough times on the pitch recently, scoring just nine goals in 32 games for Paris Saint-Germain, after scoring 38 in 47 games in his last season with Barcelona. But while PSG failed in the 1/16 of the Champions League, the club won the French Ligue 1 title in Messi's debut season.

# 2 | $ 112.2 million

JAMES LEBRON

^{On the ground: $ 41.2 million Off the field: $ 80 million}

^{Age: 37 | Sport: Basketball | Nationality of the United States}

LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers lost the playoffs this season, but he has never been more dominant off the field. He starred in Space Jam: A New Legacy last year and recently moved his talk show, The Shop , from HBO to YouTube. In October, he sold a majority stake in retail company SpringHill, the manufacturing company behind the two projects, for an estimated $ 725 million, bringing his net worth to $ 850 million , according to Forbes estimates . After announcing an approval deal with Crypto.com in January, James appeared in a Super Bowl ad along with a computer version of his newest self. He has also recently invested in home fitness companies Tonal and StatusPRO, a sports technology startup that creates virtual reality training products.

# 3 | $ 115 million

CRISTIANO RONALDO

^{On the ground: $ 60 million Off the field: $ 55 million}

^{Age: 37 | Sports: Football | Nationality: Portuguese}

Like rival Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo endured a disappointing first season with his new team, with Manchester United stuck in sixth place in the Premier League table with one game to play. There are now rumors that Ronaldo, who previously played for Man U from 2003 to 2009, could move to the transfer window again this summer. Much of Ronaldo's spending power comes from his massive social media presence: He has 690 million followers on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, giving him exorbitant fees from sponsors like Nike, Herbalife and Clear Shampoo. He is also an investor in Tatel restaurants, including a new location in Beverly Hills, and is the face of ZujuGP , a future application aiming to become a digital football community.

# 4 | $ 95 million

NEYMAR

^{On the ground: $ 70 million Off the field: $ 25 million}

^{Age: 30 | Sports: Football | Nationality: Brazilian}

Neymar scored his 400th career goal in November, but as Lionel Messi, he was criticized by critics after Paris Saint-Germain's early departure from the Champions League. His attention will now return to the World Cup in Qatar this fall, which he believes could be his last. Off the field, he has a number of valuable sponsors, including Puma and Red Bull, and is the subject of a new Netflix documentary, Neymar: The Perfect Chaos . He also plunged into the NFT world, signing with the NFTSTAR platform in November and spending over $ 1 million on two NFT Bored Ape yacht clubs on a January day.

# 5 | $ 92.8 million

STEPHEN kerri

^{On earth: $ 45.8 million | Off the field: $ 47 million}

^{Age: 34 | Sport: Basketball | Nationality of the United States}

No NBA player has won more this season than Stephen Curry, and the Golden State Warriors shooting keeper will receive a pay rise after signing a four-year, $ 215 million contract extension in August. He will earn about $ 48 million off the field next season, rising to just under $ 60 million by 2025-2026. Curry's new FTX approval deal also comes with equity shares, and he delved deeper into the blockchain in December, launching an NFT collection with his athletes and affiliated with three meta-platforms. (He promised to donate the proceeds.) Meanwhile, Curry production company Unanimous Media signed a development deal with Comcast NBCUniversal in September.

# 6 | $ 92.1 million

KEVIN DURANT

^{On earth: $ 42.1 million | Off the field: $ 50 million}

^{Age: 33 | Sport: Basketball | Nationality of the United States}

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant earns about $ 28 million a year from Nike, the second athletics deal after LeBron James ($ 32 million) between active players. He recently added deals with Coinbase, NBA Top Shot and Weedmaps, but with media firm Boardroom and investment firm Thirty Five Ventures, his business empire goes beyond approvals. The NFT OpenSea platform and Future digital fitness startup are among its latest investments and support the merger of SeatGeek SPAC. Durant and his business partner Rich Kleiman also announced last year that they would launch their own SPAC; always looking for purchases.

# 7 | $ 90.7 million

Roger Federer

^{On earth: $ 0.7 million Off the field: $ 90 million}

^{Age: 40 | Sport: Tennis | Swiss nationality}

Injuries have limited Roger Federer to six combined tournaments in 2020 and 2021, and he has yet to return to the tennis court in 2022. The former world number one, however, promotes brands such as Uniqlo and Rolex. . She also invested in the Swiss shoe brand On in 2019, and the company went public in September, raising more than $ 600 million. "We worked very closely on product design, " Federer told Forbes at the time , after spending 20 days in the lab with the On team developing the company's professional tennis shoes.

# 8 | $ 90 million

CANEL ALVAREZ

^{On the ground: $ 85 million Off the field: $ 5 million}

^{Age: 31 | Sport: Boxing Nationality: Mexican}

Canelo Alvarez is the biggest boxing lottery winner, winning $ 40 million or more from his two pay-per-view wins last May and November. (His loss to lightweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7, 2022 is out of the Forbes tracking window for this list.) Plans to expand in California. Alvarez said last year that he would start the chain of gas stations and promote it in Canelo without a series of fights in Mexico related to Matchroom Boxing and DAZN.

# 9 | $ 83.9 million

TOM BRADY

^{On the ground: $ 31.9 million Off the field: $ 52 million}

^{Age: 44 | Sports: Football | Nationality of the United States}

Tom Brady's release this off-season lasts less than six weeks, which is great news for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a 2021 season at the age of 43. He has certainly learned new tricks off the field. Autograph, the NFT platform he co-founded with Brady last year, raised $ 170 million in a Round of B series funding announced in January and Religion of Sports, the production company he co-founded with the Hall of Fame. American professional Michael Strahan and director Gotham Chopra launched a content deal with Skydance Sports in March. Meanwhile, his other production company, 199 Productions, captured Brady's next trip of the 1980s and had a new clothing line called BRADY. And when the time finally came for him to retire from football forever, Brady already had his next lucrative job: a commentary role at Fox Sports. According to the New York Post , this deal is expected to earn him more than he has earned on the field in 22 NFL seasons, or $ 375 million over ten years.

# 10 | $ 80.9 million

GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO

^{On earth: $ 39.9 million | Off the field: $ 41 million}

^{Age: 27 | Sport: Basketball | Nationality: Greek}

As Neymar turned 30 in February, Giannis Antetokounmpo is the only member of this year’s top 10 who is still in his twenties. Milwaukee Bucks MVP twice signed a $ 228 million five-year contract in December 2020, the NBA's largest total value contract to date. He is one of the investors in the watch resale platform, the $ 165 million WatchBox financing round was announced in November, he also signed a licensing agreement with NFTSTAR NFT platform and added Google's WhatsApp and Pixel 6 phones to its portfolio. And Antetokounmpo will soon see his life story in the biographical film Rise , which will premiere at Disney + in June.

METHODOLOGY

Earnings figures on the Forbes field include all prize money, salaries and bonuses earned between 1 May 2021 and 1 May 2022. In cases where players continue to be paid beyond May for the regular season ending on that date, as p. sh. NBA and European football: we give a full salary of the season. Includes Playoff bonuses for the 2021 NFL season and the 2020-21 NBA season.

Out-of-court revenue figures are estimates of approval agreements, filing fees, and remittance and licensing revenue for the 12 months to May 1, 2022, as well as cash revenue from all businesses operated by athletes, according to conversations with industry experts. Forbes does not include investment income, such as interest payments or dividends, but does take into account stock payments that athletes have sold.

Forbes does not deduct agency taxes or fees. The list includes athletes who were active all the time over a 12-month period.

^{With additional reporting by Justin Birnbaum and Matt Craig}

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