With athletes, greatness brings massive pay days. Or, at least, it’s supposed to.
Depending on the sport, the culture around the sport, and their experience in their respective league, the highest-paid athletes are often not who fans expect. While we here in the United States praise LeBron James constantly, he isn’t the most recognizable athlete in other parts of the world. To that end: most of the richest athletes on Earth are soccer players.
And even in 2024, the variance between the highest-paid athlete in the world and the 100th-highest-paid athlete is immense. Here’s a quick breakdown of Sportico’s top 100.
Who is the highest-paid athlete in the world?
Unsurprisingly, Al-Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo was the highest-paid athlete in the world in 2024, earning $260 million last year. Of that, $215 million was his salary, and the final $45 million came through endorsements.
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There was a vast gap between Ronaldo and the second-highest-paid athlete, the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry.
Curry earned $153.8 million last year, with $100 million coming through his endorsements, more than twice that of Ronaldo. However, Curry’s base salary sat at just $53.8 million, a fraction of what Ronaldo earned.
Soccer dominates the top of the list
Although Curry earned the second-most of any athlete last year, soccer still dominated the top of Sportico’s list. Five of their top-10 athletes were soccer players (Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe), with no other sport having more than two representatives.
Outside of the top 10, though, soccer almost drops off the map entirely. Only seven other soccer athletes made the list, with only one of them even cracking the top 25 (Erling Haaland).
After the top 10, basketball and football start to take over. The NBA has 36 players represented on the list, far and away the most of any organization. Curry was the highest earner at $153.8 million, second in the world, while the Denver Nuggets’ Michael Porter Jr. – $37.7 million – was the final NBA player to make the list, sitting at 98th in the world.
The NFL boasts 22 athletes in total, all but four of them being quarterbacks. Tight end Travis Kelce ($47.4 million, 54th), wide receiver Justin Jefferson ($45.3 million, 68th), wide receiver CeeDee Lamb ($44.3 million, 71st), and edge rusher Brian Burns ($43.9 million, 73rd) were the only non-quarterbacks to make the list. In an absolute shocker, the Minnesota Vikings’ Daniel Jones, who was cut by the New York Giants during the 2024 NFL season, just made the cut, earning $37.5 million in 2024, 100th on the list.
Breakdown by sport
Here is how many athletes from each sport made the list:
Basketball: 36
Football: 22
Soccer: 12
Baseball: 11
Golf: 9
Fighting: 6
Formula 1: 2
Tennis: 2
Other notables
With most of the money in his contract deferred, it’s shocking to still see the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani so high on the list, ranking 21st at $72.5 million. Ohtani only earned $2.5 million in salary in 2024 – the lowest of anyone on the list. But Ohtani is such a massive star he was able to collect $70 million in endorsements. Outside of Curry’s $100 million in endorsements, only LeBron James ($85 million in endorsements) and Messi ($75 million) earned more through that avenue. The next closest after Ohtani was Tiger Woods, who earned $52 million in endorsements in 2024.
Despite not being considered top-10 quarterbacks by many fans, Dallas’ Dak Prescott and Detroit’s Jared Goff each earned more than $80 million in salary alone in 2024. On salary/winnings alone, Prescott would’ve ranked sixth in the world with Goff coming in at ninth. Green Bay’s Jordan Love would’ve ranked 10th as well, though he earned just under $80 million at $79.1 million in salary.
The Los Angeles Angels have not gotten more than 60 games out of Anthony Rendon since he joined the club in 2020. Still, despite the lack of play time, he’s a top-100 earner, raking in $38.3 million in 2024. Rendon, unsurprisingly, earned the fewest in endorsements ($250,000) of anyone on the list. It’s hard to get brands interested when they never see you play. Rendon is still owed $76 million by the Los Angeles Angels over the next two years.
