Thanks to the cut in footballer’s salaries, tennis player Roger Federer has become the world’s highest-paid athlete by 2020.
The earnings of the world’s highest-earning athletes fell for the first time in four years, according to the Forbes 2020 ranking, as the coronavirus wreaked havoc on sports and canceled or postponed many important events for the first time since World War II.
The 100 highest-paid athletes won a combined total of $3.6 billion this year, which is 9% below 2019 and the first decline since 2016, when boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao skewed the results with a $400-million-dollar payment for the “Fight of the Century” in May 2015.
Roger Federer took first place this year for the first time, with $106 million in pre-tax profits, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who has traded number one spot in three of the last four years. The two soccer icons earned $209 million combined over the past 12 months, a drop of $28 million since 2019, due to salary cuts implemented by many European soccer clubs when the leagues were halted in March by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The only Mexican to appear in the 100-place ranking is Saul “El Canelo” Alvarez, a boxer who earned 37 million dollars, of which $2 million were from sponsorships and $35 million from salary and prizes.
Federer, who has the best sports sponsorship portfolio, is the ninth athlete to reach the top since 1990, the first year Forbes began tracking athlete earnings. He is also the first tennis player in 30 years to reach number 1 after earning 100 million dollars for off-court activities, thanks to agreements with Uniqlo, Credit Suisse, Mercedes-Benz, and ten other partners. Ronaldo earned 45 million from Nike, Altice, Herbalife, and his CR7 brand, while Messi earned 32 million from Adidas, MasterCard, and PepsiCo.
Athletes from 21 countries and 10 sports make the final cut this year, as do two women, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams, making this the first time more than one woman had made the rankings since 2016 when Williams appeared with Maria Sharapova. Osaka, who won 3.4 million dollars in tournament payments, is another dream sportswoman for sponsors and has raised 34 million brands such as Nike, Nissan Motor, and Procter & Gamble. No female athlete in any sport other than tennis has achieved this elite status.
While NBA players dominate the roster more than any other sport, NFL players had the best year as a group thanks to a late summer start to the season that has not been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In all, 31 soccer stars are included, compared to 19 a year ago. In contrast, MLB players were the hardest hit after the postponement of Opening Day in March: Only one professional Baseball player, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, made the rankings, compared to 15 in 2019.
Top 10: the highest-paid athletes in 2020
- Roger Federer
Earnings: $ 106.3 million
Sponsorships: $ 100 million
Salary / Awards: $ 6.3 million
Citizenship: Switzerland
- Cristiano Ronaldo
Earnings: $ 105 million
Sponsorships: $ 45 million
Salary / Awards: $ 60 million
Citizenship: Portugal
- Lionel Messi
Earnings: $ 104 million
Sponsorships: $ 32 million
Salary / Awards: $ 72 million
Citizenship: Argentina
- Neymar
Earnings: $ 95.5 million
Sponsorships: $ 25 million
Salary / Awards: $ 70.5 million
Citizenship: Brazil
- LeBron James
Earnings: $ 88.2 million
Sponsorships: $ 60 million
Salary / Awards: $ 28.2 million
Citizenship: United States
- Stephen Curry
Earnings: $ 74.4 million
Sponsorships: $ 44 million
Salary / Awards: $ 30.4 million
Citizenship: United States
- Kevin Durant
Earnings: $ 63.9 million
Sponsorships: $ 35 million
Salary / Awards: $ 28.9 million
Citizenship: United States
- Tiger Woods
Earnings: $ 62.3 million
Sponsorships: $ 60 million
Salary / Awards: $ 2.3 million
Citizenship: United States
- Kirk Cousins
Earnings: $ 60.5 million
Sponsorships: $ 2.5 million
Salary / Awards: $ 58 million
Citizenship: United States
- Carson Wentz
Earnings: $ 59.1 million
Sponsorships: $ 4 million
Salary / Awards: $ 55.1 million
Citizenship: United States