Back in the 1920s, even the biggest names in sport were earning sums that look modest by modern standards. A hundred years on, elite competitors command nine-figure contracts and global endorsement portfolios.

From early-era icons to today's commercial powerhouses, the decade-by-decade earnings leaders chart the extraordinary rise of money at the very top of sport.

Click or scroll on to discover who led the pay charts and how much more today's athletes rake in.

All dollar amounts in US dollars

With much of sport still semi-professional in this era, pay was low by modern standards.

The outlier was boxing. Heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey emerged as the Roaring Twenties' standout earner, headlining the first million-dollar gate in 1921 and pulling in millions overall. But rival Gene Tunney became the first athlete to earn $1 million in a single year in 1927, an impressive $18.7 million (£14.1m) in today's money.

Baseball legend Babe Ruth ran close for cumulative earnings, though Ty Cobb out-earned him in 1927 with a record $85,000 salary. That equates to $1.6 million (£1.2m) today, less than many modern MLB stars make in a month.

Babe Ruth was sport's highest-salaried star early in the decade, earning $80,000 per season, around $1.5 million (£1.13m) in today’s money. But as the Great Depression deepened, pay fell. Across the pond, English professional soccer players saw maximum wages capped at £8 a week until 1947, a mere $665 (£500) in current terms.

Boxing remained the route to megabucks. Joe Louis turned professional in 1934 and by the end of 1935 had already earned $371,645, the equivalent of $8.8 million (£6.6m) today. He went on to make millions more, though OTT generosity, poor financial management and tax problems ultimately left him destitute.

While World War II disrupted much of global sport, one athlete turned figure skating into a commercial goldmine. Three-time Olympic champion Sonja Henie had already become a Hollywood star by the 1940s, reportedly earning more than $125,000 per movie, over $2.9 million (£2.2m) in today's money.

But the Norwegian skating star's real windfall came from her touring ice revues. During the decade, Henie's shows generated millions in ticket sales, with her personal annual earnings climbing to $2 million, the equivalent of $36 million (£27m) in 2026 money.

By the start of the decade, Joe DiMaggio had become the first baseball player to sign a contract worth $100,000, which is $1.4 million (£1.1m) now, a landmark moment for team sports salaries.

But boxing still led the financial race. Sugar Ray Robinson earned much of his $4 million career total during the 1950s, making him the decade's highest-paid athlete, ahead of heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano. That sum is equivalent to around $48 million (£36.1m) today.

Yet, with top US tax rates reaching an eye-watering 91% and financial mismanagement compounding the problem, Robinson later faced serious IRS debts and ended up stony broke.

The 1960s transformed athlete pay. England's soccer wage cap was scrapped in 1961, NFL-AFL bidding wars pushed up American football contracts, and baseball salaries climbed as TV money poured in.

It was golf that produced the decade's financial trailblazer, though.

Arnold Palmer became the first professional golfer to surpass a million dollars in career earnings and is credited with pioneering the modern endorsement model. By the end of the swinging decade, his annual income reportedly reached as much as $10 million, equating to $100 million (£75.7m) today.

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The 1970s ushered in the first million-dollar team sport contract, when Bobby Hull signed a 10-year deal with the Winnipeg Jets in 1972. But boxing delivered the era's biggest windfalls.

Muhammad Ali earned $2.5 million for the 1971 Fight of the Century, $5.45 million for 1974's Rumble in the Jungle, and around $6 million for both the 1975 Thrilla in Manila and his 1976 bout with Ken Norton. In today's money, those bulging purses translate to a mighty $126 million (£95m).

Salaries across professional sport skyrocketed in the 1980s, from European soccer to America's major leagues. That said, the largest paydays still came in the boxing ring.

Champion of the decade, Sugar Ray Leonard became the first boxer to surpass $100 million (£75m) in career earnings, a landmark in sporting finance. His blockbuster bouts commanded humongous purses, including at least $15 million for his 1989 comeback fight, an amount equivalent to around $40 million (£30m) today.

By the 1990s, sport's commercial boom was in full swing, with TV billions and global sponsorship driving salaries to new heights. No athlete benefited more than Michael Jordan. In the 1997–98 season with the Chicago Bulls, the basketball icon earned a record $33 million, equivalent to $67 million (£50m) today.

Off the court, numerous endorsements boosted his income. But Jordan's revolutionary royalty deal with Nike has made him the most money by far, generating the bulk of his wealth and ultimately helping him become the first athlete billionaire in 2014.

At the turn of the millennium, Michael Schumacher was crowned the world's highest-paid athlete by Forbes. But the motorsport great was swiftly overtaken by Tiger Woods, who topped the Forbes list in 2001 and remained in the number one spot for the rest of the decade.

Across the noughties, the golfing titan earned just shy of $1 billion, around $1.5 billion (£1.1bn) today, driven largely by endorsements rather than prize money. He eventually attained billionaire status in 2022 and is now worth a tidy $1.3 billion (£977m).

The 2010s were defined by ever more lucrative broadcast deals and surging global endorsements. According to Forbes' decade rankings, no athlete earned more than Floyd Mayweather, who banked $915 million (£688m) between 2010 and 2019.

Well over $500 million (£376m) of that came from his two megafights against Manny Pacquiao in 2015 and Conor McGregor in 2017, which remain the two richest one-night paydays in sporting history.

Runner-up to Floyd Mayweather for the 2010s crown, Cristiano Ronaldo has emerged as the top-paid athlete of the 2020s. The decade opened with Roger Federer topping the Forbes list, followed by Conor McGregor in 2021 and Lionel Messi in 2023.

Since 2024, Ronaldo has dominated the rankings, earning $275 million (£206.7m) in 2025 alone, thanks in part to a big-money move to Saudi Arabia.

In October 2025, the Portuguese soccer star was widely reported to have become the first active team-sport athlete to surpass a $1 billion (£752m) net worth, a milestone that cements his financial supremacy in the current decade.

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