the annual Forbes The list of the highest paid athletes is now available and their top 10 places make history.
For the first time, all 10 stars have earned more than $100 million (£78 million) each, with earnings totaling $1.38 billion (£1.03 billion).
The financial boom within sport knows no limits in terms of salaries and sponsorships, and athletes are the main beneficiaries of this.
This is immediately exemplified by NFL star Lamar Jackson. The 27-year-old is 10th on the list with £79 million ($100.5 million) and his position is due to the £57 million signing bonus he received from the Baltimore Ravens after signing a new contract last year. past. He once again negotiated that as his own agent, meaning that he was not given any share to anyone else.
Ninth place on this list is occupied by the best shooter in basketball history: Stephen Curry.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson is the tenth highest-paid athlete in 2024, according to Forbes list
Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (right) is ranked ninth and will earn £81 million in total in 2024.
The Golden State Warriors point guard’s earnings amount to 81 million pounds ($102 million). His exploits on the ball earn him just over £41 million, with the rest coming from off-field deals such as his sponsorship with Under Armour.
Karim Benzema is the first footballer on the list, occupying eighth place with 84 million pounds ($106 million). It is clear where the French striker’s income comes from, with his signing for Saudi side Al-Ittihad last year being the predominant factor.
The 36-year-old earns £79 million playing in the Saudi Pro League, with the remaining difference coming from off the field.
They are back-to-back footballers, as Neymar (£85m/$108m) is in seventh place. Like Benzema, he swapped European football for the Middle East and joined Al-Hilal. That deal with the club equates to £63m in earnings for the Brazilian. The rest is through sponsorship deals which include the launch of his own football boot with Puma.
Completing the hat-trick of footballers is a former teammate of Benzema and Neymar in sixth place: Kylian Mbappé (£87m/$110m).
The 25-year-old will leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer, but not before completing a staggering £71million in on-field earnings.
Mbappé, who has deals with Nike, Oakley and Hublot, is expected to join Real Madrid this summer.
Karim Benzema is the first footballer on the list, coming in eighth with 84 million pounds due to his move to Saudi Arabia.
Neymar (left) and Kylian Mbappé, former Paris Saint-Germain teammates, are seventh and sixth
NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo is fifth on this list (£88m/$111m) and is the first athlete here to earn more money outside of the sport he plays.
The Milwaukee Bucks cornerstone earns £36 million with them this year, while £51 million comes from playing basketball. In January, ‘Greek Freak’ launched a production company and has a sixth exclusive shoe with Nike arriving later this year.
Antetokounmpo is only surpassed by one other basketball player on this list and that is LeBron James (£101 million/$128.2 million).
The four-time NBA champion earned £38 million with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024, but most of his earnings come from elsewhere.
In addition to his endorsement of Nike, James signed a deal with DraftKings in January and also invested in PGA Tour Enterprises to expand his portfolio.
Basketball stars Giannis Antetokounmpo (left) and LeBron James rank fifth and fourth on the list.
Lionel Messi is third on the list with earnings of £107 million ($135 million). Like Antetokounmpo and James, he earns more from non-sports activities.
His arrival at MLS side Inter Miami last year has put the spotlight on the club, seeing its commercial income and opportunities increase. In addition to Adidas, Apple and Konami, there are reports that the Argentine captain is about to launch his own sports drink with the maker of White Claw Hard Seltzer this summer as well.
However, Forbes’ biggest booster from 2023 is Jon Rahm (£172m/$218m), who is now second on the list, up from 28th 12 months ago.
Rahm shocked the golf world in December when he announced he was joining LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed company. The astonishing move has already seen the Spaniard pocket £156m.
As Forbes details; Although he has yet to win a LIV event, he has already earned £5.2 million ($6.6 million) in seven tournaments in 2024, which would put him sixth on the official PGA Tour money list this season (as of Monday). .
The influence of the Middle East – and specifically Saudi Arabia – is strong on this list and this is highlighted by the man who heads this 10: Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 39-year-old will raise £205 million this year, a figure that sees him top the Forbes list for the fourth time in his career.
Lionel Messi (left) is third with £107m, while Jon Rahm is second with earnings of £172m.
Cristiano Ronaldo leads the way with earnings of £205m this year, with £157m from Al-Nassr
Playing for Al-Nassr allows the Portuguese superstar to earn £157 million from his employers. He has repaid his investment by scoring 33 goals in 28 games so far, to top the scoring charts.
The rest of the £48m is made up for by Ronaldo’s impressive array of off-field deals.
Nike and Herbalife are among those companies and Ronaldo recently joined Whoop as its global ambassador on Monday. Ronaldo’s partnership and investment coincides with Whoop’s announcement to expand its availability to the Gulf Cooperation Council regions (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain), as well as Hong Kong, Israel, Korea and Taiwan.
