Making a fortune both on and off the field, the world's sporting giants have boosted their wealth spectacularly over the past 12 months. Fuelled by everything from Saudi money and skyrocketing salary caps to ever-more lucrative endorsement deals, their incomes have positively surged, according to the latest Forbes round-up.
Click or scroll through the gallery and join us as we reveal the top 20 highest earners in sport today, along with the top five under 25. Spoiler alert: despite the rising profile of women's sport, no female stars cracked the top 50 of this year's Forbes list, let alone the top 20.
All dollar amounts in US dollars.
Leading the charge, American football boasts the largest representation in the top 20, with five players making the cut. First up is Jared Goff. The Detroit Lions quarterback landed a four-year contract extension worth $212 million in May of last year, with his pay for the past 12 months coming in at $75.8 million. This is mainly thanks to a record-breaking $73 million signing bonus.
Goff earned a further $5 million from endorsement deals with the likes of Ford and Old Spice, as well as his separate business interests, which include a clothing line called JG16.
In July 2024, just two months after Goff's landmark deal, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love scored a new NFL record $75 million signing bonus as part of his four-year, $220 million contract extension. Brand hook-ups with American Family Insurance, Toyota, Experian, and more have helped bump up his earnings to $83 million over the past 12 months.
Staying with star NFL quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes is in GOAT territory, with five Super Bowl appearances under his belt and three victories. The Kansas City Chiefs' talisman earned a hefty $58.8 million on the field this past year, while his off-field activities netted him an additional $28 million, far more than Love and Goff.
Mahomes' massive fan appeal has bagged the American football star numerous big-money endorsement deals with names including Adidas, Hugo Boss, and T-Mobile. Mahomes also holds minority stakes in several sports teams and even co-owns a fast-food chain, KMO Burger.
One of three golfers in the top 20, Rory McIlroy is the only PGA Tour player apart from Tiger Woods to have won at least $100 million in prize money. During the past year, the Northern Irish star added $42.9 million to that total, including the $4.2 million he was awarded in April for winning his first Masters.
The only European golfer to complete the modern career Grand Slam, McIlroy actually made more money away from the course over the last 12 months. His $45 million off-field earnings were mostly courtesy of juicy sponsorship deals with Nike, Omega, Optum, and TaylorMade.
Four soccer stars feature in the top 20, including Kylian Mbappé. The French icon joined Real Madrid last summer in a five-year deal worth $16.2 million a season after taxes, sweetened with a $164 million signing bonus paid over the contract's duration. All in all, Mbappé's on-field income was $70 million in the past year.
Bolstered by his squeaky-clean image, Mbappé is a sponsor's dream. A brand ambassador for prestigious names including Nike, Hublot, and Dior, he garnered a further $20 million over the last 12 months from endorsement deals and other off-field hustles.
Wages made up the lion's share of the $91.8 million Deshaun Watson pulled in over the past year, proceeds from the five-year, $230 million contract he signed with the Cleveland Browns in 2021. Yet the NFL quarterback played only six games during the 2023 season due to an Achilles tendon tear and is still out of action.
Watson's off-field earnings totalled a million dollars, the joint lowest figure in the top 20. This comparatively modest sum is a direct result of him losing big-name sponsors such as Nike and Beats following a series of assault allegations in 2021, which he continues to deny.
Scottie Scheffler is the world's top-ranking golfer (Rory McIlroy is currently in second place), and he has an income to match – though one other player, now ranked a lowly 76th, made more money over the past 12 months.
Scheffler's tournament winnings came in at $62.5 million. Endorsement deals with brands like Nike, Veritex Bank, and TaylorMade, along with other off-field activities, hauled in an additional $30 million.
Four basketball players feature in the latest top 20. Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis 'Greek Freak' Antetokounmpo collected earnings of $94.4 million in the past year, with the figure fairly evenly split between his NBA salary and off-field earnings from an array of endorsement deals and business interests.
A pay bonanza awaits America's elite basketball players. Record revenues have seen the NBA salary cap shoot up, with the league's new national media deals poised to boost player salaries even further from next season.
Despite ranking only 76th globally, Spain's Jon Rahm amassed $100 million this past year, more than any other golfer. The overriding reason? Saudi money.
Rahm defected to PGA Tour's arch-rival LIV Golf at the end of 2023. Backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the league lures players with bumper payouts, but has so far failed to win over Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and other major golfing stars. A merger between the tours was announced in 2023. Yet despite ongoing talks, they remain mostly separate, and the deal is currently up in the air.
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Undisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is one of two boxers in our top 20. His colossal $100 million on-field earnings this past year stem from his May and December 2024 victories over Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia's Ring of Fire unification bout and rematch, so you can guess who the other one is. This mega-fight highlights how Saudi money is increasingly powering boxing's biggest events, and global sport in general, amid accusations of sportswashing (the practice of using sport to improve the nation's reputation).
Despite his resounding success, Usyk's off-field income totalled a paltry million dollars, the joint lowest number in the top 20. Boxers tend to attract relatively few endorsements, due in part to the violent nature of the sport. In any case, Usyk's focus over the past 12 months, aside from boxing, has been the ongoing war in his homeland of Ukraine.
Back to NBA stars, Kevin Durant ranks as the 10th highest-paid athlete, with earnings of $101.4 million over the past year. The Phoenix Suns' power forward netted $51.4 million on the court and $50 million from his endorsements and business interests.
Durant has notched up a slew of sponsors, from Nike to FanDuel, and holds significant investments in scores of companies and a number of sports teams.
Hailed as a 'once in a century' player, Shohei Ohtani is as successful off the field as on it. A global marketing phenomenon, the legendary Japanese hitter and pitcher is one of only two athletes in our top 20 who earned $100 million or more from endorsements and other off-field activities this past year. Ohtani has over 20 major deals with American and Japanese brands, including New Balance, Beats, and Seiko.
Ohtani signed a record-smashing 10-year $700 million contract with the LA Dodgers in 2023. Despite this monumental deal, his on-field pay for the past year was a mere $2.5 million since the bulk of the unprecedented contract won't be paid out until after it finishes.
The world's top-earning French soccer player, Karim Benzema is yet another sports star who has hit the Saudi jackpot. As captain of Al Ittihad, the Jeddah-based club he joined in 2023, the Ballon D'Or winner banked a staggering $100 million in the past year alone.
Benzema's off-field income totalled a not-so-impressive $4 million. While the striker does have lucrative contracts with Adidas and other brands, he makes considerably less from endorsements than the more marketable Kylian Mbappé, the other French player in the top 20.
Juan Soto signed baseball's biggest-ever contract ahead of the 2025 season: a 15-year deal with the New York Mets worth $765 million, beating Shohei Ohtani's $700 million from 2023.
In contrast to Ohtani, Soto's salary made up the majority of his earnings this past year. His off-field income was comparatively muted at $5 million, from deals with brands like Under Armour and Activision Blizzard. Soto lacks Ohtani's international marketing allure, and with no deferred money in his humongous salary, he's also less reliant on endorsement income.
LeBron James is the sole billionaire in the top 20 and one of only a handful of sports stars to attain the coveted status. The NBA's highest-paid player for 11 consecutive years until 2024, James' LA Lakers salary accounted for $48.8 million of his past year's income.
Off the court, the basketball great added $85 million to his immense fortune through his business ventures and lucrative marketing deals with Nike, LVMH, Taco Bell, and other major brands.
Winner of the Ballon D'or a record eight times, Lionel Messi made $135 million over the past year. Inter Miami's star player since 2023, Messi's salary for 2024 was more than the entire payroll of 22 MLS teams. In the past 12 months, his on-field pay totalled $60 million.
Messi made even more off the pitch, clocking up $75 million, which mainly came from his numerous money-spinning deals with brands such as Adidas, Apple, and Mastercard.
The highest-earning player in the NFL, Dak Prescott agreed a four-year extension on his Dallas Cowboys contract last September worth $240 million, including an $80 million signing bonus. This translates to a payout of $127 million over the past 12 months.
The revered quarterback topped up his bulging pay packet with $10 million gleaned from off-field activities. These include sponsorship deals with AT&T, Jordan, Oikos, and other leading names, as well as Prescott's part-ownership of several Walk-On's restaurants.
Though another comeback could be on the cards, Tyson Fury retired from boxing for the fourth time at the end of last year after losing the Ring of Fire rematch against undisputed world heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia. Despite losing, the 'Gypsy King' walked away with a much bigger payout after negotiating a deal that gave him 70% of the purse. His on-field earnings for the past 12 months swelled to $140 million as a result.
Outside the ring, the retired (for now) boxer has his own Netflix reality show, At Home with the Furys. The deal with the streamer is a key source of his non-boxing income, which reached $6 million over the past year.
The past 12 months have been a slam dunk for Stephen Curry's bank account. Now the NBA's highest-earning player, the Golden State Warriors guard has knocked LeBron James off the top spot, with pay of $56 million.
Curry's off-field income was even more impressive at $100 million, the only athlete apart from Shohei Ohtani to hit that figure. The basketball virtuoso has a number of big-money endorsements, though his namesake line with Under Armour is the most financially rewarding by a long shot.
The world's highest-earning sports star, Cristiano Ronaldo tops the Forbes list for the third consecutive year. The five-time Ballon d'Or recipient was paid a staggering $225 million over the past 12 months by virtue of his 'contract of the century' with Al-Nassr, the Saudi club he joined at the end of 2022.
The world's most followed person on social media, Ronaldo has tremendous clout. His reputation powers blockbuster endorsement deals with Nike, Binance, and more, as well as numerous business ventures, including his CR7-branded lines, netting him $50 million off the pitch this past year.
Now, let's check out the top five under 25...
Vinicius Junior took home the Best FIFA Men's Player award last year, cementing his status as one of soccer's biggest young stars. The third highest-paid Real Madrid player after Kylian Mbappé and David Alaba, Vini Jr. earned $40 million on the pitch over the past 12 months.
With his profile on the rise, the 24-year-old Brazilian forward has been attracting sponsors like bees to honey. Last year, his deals with brands including Nike, Gatorade, Pepsi, and Dubai Tourism saw him pocket a further $15 million.
The English Premier League's top goalscorer during the 2023/24 season, 24-year-old Erling Haaland is seriously hot property. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid had been circling for his signature before the Norwegian striker signed a contract extension in January with Manchester City, tying him to the club until 2034. Needless to say, the deal involved a fat pay rise, with Haaland's basic salary now $712,000 a week. During the past 12 months, he was paid $48 million.
Off the pitch, Haaland made an additional $14 million, mostly from his partnerships with international names from Nike and TAG Heuer to Unilever.
Likened to a young Michael Jordan, who of course went on to become a billionaire, Anthony Edwards is rapidly establishing himself as one of the NBA's financial heavyweights. The 23-year-old shooting guard inked a five-year, $203 million contract extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2023, and his on-field earnings hit $42.1 million in the past year. That said, Edwards is the most fined player in the league this season, and is already down over half a million dollars.
Away from the court, Edwards commands enviable sponsorship deals with brands like Adidas, Bose, and Chipotle, with his off-field earnings totalling $20 million.
Quarterbacks generally rule the financial landscape in the NFL, pulling in the largest sums both from playing and endorsement deals. Justin Jefferson is one of the few exceptions. The elite wide receiver signed a record-breaking four-year, $161 million contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings last June. This equated to a payout of $68.2 million over the past year.
Off-field, the 25-year-old made an extra $4 million largely from his high-profile brand tie-ups with Visa, Oakley, Bose, and other prominent names.
The world's highest-paid young athlete, 25-year-old Trevor Lawrence has swiftly risen to become one of the NFL's top-earning players. At the start of the 2024 season, he clinched a five-year contract extension with the Jacksonville Jaguars worth $275 million. This contributed handsomely to the $74.5 million he collected in the past 12 months, despite his relatively disappointing performance on the gridiron.
On top of his on-field pay, Lawrence snagged $6 million, having already secured nine long-term endorsements from household names including Adidas, Gatorade, and Ritz Crackers.
Now discover 17 famous faces with surprising side hustles
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