1. Floyd Mayweather: growing up in the modest area of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Floyd Mayweather, born in the family of boxers, had only one dream, becoming the king of the ring, and when it comes to money, he is at the pinnacle. On May 2nd 2015, Mayweather fought the fight of the century, winning the fight, and also earning $100 million from one single fight. Who would have imagined this boy who lived in New Jersey with his mother, living a life without basic necessities such as electricity and a proper roof, will become the highest earning athlete in the history of sports. Tough he may not be a fan favorite, there is sometime till someone displaces him from his number one earning position. He currently earns $300 million a year of which $285 million comes from winning and $15 million from endorsements.
2. Manny Pacquiao: Nick named “Pac Man”, Manny is a world champion professional boxer from Philippine. He is the first and only eight division world champion. Forbes ranked him 14th highest earning athlete in 2013 but that was soon to change. Cometh May 2nd 2015, Manny was the opponent of Floyd Mayweather in the fight of the century, and though he lost, he still made serious money from the fight which propelled him the 2nd spot in our list of highest earning athletes of 2015 with total earnings of $160 million of which $148 million came from winnings and $12 million from endorsements.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo: A skinny lad from small town of Madeira, Portugal, was destined to rule the world of football. With no stable source of income in the family and dreams money can’t buy, Ronaldo struck the footballing arena storming into the theater of dreams, showing his unmatched talent before signing for Real Madrid, arguably the biggest club in world football, the rest is history. From his ever-changing hair styles to the most expensive car on the road, Cristiano has it all. Today this man boasts of having the most number of followers in social media, and is a unique combination of most loved and hated superstar of all time. Whatever he does becomes the news. His magical brilliance on the field and amazing good looks off the field helps him grab the most lucrative endorsement deals. He currently sits on 3rd spot in our rankings with total earning of $79.6 M in total with $52.6M coming from salary and $27M from endorsements.
4. Lionel Messi: People always use superlatives to describe something they cannot explain. These superlatives apply most to Lionel Messi. While football has always been the magicians’ forte, his huge fan base also lets him sit on the biggest endorsements and pay cheques. While he dribbles past the defenders at lightning speed, he also earns huge sums of money, all doing the thing he loves the most, playing football. With Barcelona having won the treble this season, the harvesting time for Messi and his brand M10 has just begun. Aged 27, he has a lot of years of playing time ahead of him. Already believed to be the best footballer in the history of the game, his brand seems to be only getting bigger. He currently sits at 4th spot in our list with total income of $78.3M of which $51.8M comes from salary and another $22M from endorsements.
5. Roger Federer: Nick named “King Roger”, Federer is regarded by most commentators and fans as the best player to have stepped on the tennis court. He held the world no.1 position for 302 weeks which includes 237 consecutive weeks at the top. Federer is one of the highest earning athlete in the world and the highest earning Tennis player in the world thanks to his 10 mega endorsement deals with Nike and Rolex to name a few. As he looks set to play a few more years before hanging his boots, his huge fan base is enough to keep his stock high in the market in the coming years. He currently earns $67M in total of which $9M come from winning and $58M from endorsements. He currently occupies 5th spot in our list of highest paid athletes.
6. LeBron James: LeBron James is a fine example of a child prodigy who delivered good when he came of age. James played high school basketball at St. Vincent-St. Mary High school in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. He plays for Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) at small forward and power forward positions and is their all-time leading goal scorer. James has been named by Forbes as one of the most influential athlete. His heroisms on the field and popularity off the field have helped him bag the most lucrative endorsement deals with big brands such as Nike. He was also the first black man and third overall to feature on the cover of vogue magazine. Today he earns $64.8M in total of which $20.8M come from winnings and $44M from endorsements. He sits comfortably on the 6th spot in our ranking of the highest paid athletes for the year 2015.
7. Kevin Durant: Another child prodigy, a heavily recruited high school prospect, Durant attended University of Texas and played college basketball for one season winning various awards throughout the year. He currently plays with Oklahoma City Thunder in NBA at small forward position. Kevin Durant is a fan favorite and a philanthropist. His jersey always ranks as one of the most selling in NBA and his endorsements and fan base keeps his bank account strong. He currently earns $54.2M in total of which $19.1M come from winnings and another $35M from endorsements. He currently sits at the 7th spot in our rankings.
8. Phil Mickelson: Nicknamed “lefty” for his left handed swing, Phil Mickelson is a professional American Golfer. He is also part of the unique club of 16 golfers who have won at least 3 out of 4 professional majors, US Open being the only professional major he has failed to win. Phil may be ranked only a second on the PGA Tour’s all-time money list, his source of income majorly depends on the endorsements. His mega endorsement deals with KPMG, ExxonMobil, Rolex etc. makes him one of the highest-earning athletes. He currently earns a total of $50.8M of which $2.8M come from winnings and another $48M from endorsements. He currently sits on the 8th spot in our list.
9. Tiger Woods: Nicknamed “Tiger”, Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods is an American golfer. Woods was born to break records and he did it with great style over the years that he graced the golfing arena. He has been the world no.1 for most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks by any golfer. Woods was once the most marketable athlete. In the year 2000, Woods signed a 5 year $105M contract extension with Nike, which was the largest endorsing deal ever signed by an athlete at that time. Woods endorses Nike, Gillette, and Gatorade and also endorses The Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of video games. In 2009, Forbes named Woods as the world’s first athlete to cross the one billion earnings mark, the same year his net worth was estimated to be $600M, making him the second richest Afro-American. He currently earns $50.6M of which $0.6M come from winning and $50M from endorsements.
10. Kobe Bryant: LA Lakers see him as a savior in most torrid situations, others consider him a senior citizen aged 36. Kobe Bryant is a professional NBA player and has played his entire life for LA LAKERS at shooting guard position. He is the all-time leading scorer in LA Lakers history. Kobe had the highest salary in NBA for 5th consecutive year in the 2014-15 NBA season. His deals with Nike, Lenovo, Hublot and Panini gives him enough money to make it to the 10th spot on our rankings of highest-earning athletes of 2015. He currently earns $49.5M in total of which $23.5M come from winnings and another $26M from endorsements.
I hope you like it, cheers.
Nishant Awasthi
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