Cost of Admission Is Now $22.9 million, up $1.5 Million from Previous Year
NEW YORK (June 5, 2018) – Forbes today released its annual ranking of the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes, who collectively earned $3.8 billion over the last 12 months, up 23% from last year’s earnings of $3.11 billion. Floyd Mayweather returns as the world’s highest-paid athlete for the fourth time in seven years, thanks to a $275 million payday for his August boxing match against UFC star Conor McGregor (No. 4). Mayweather unseats Cristiano Ronaldo, who held the crown the previous two years. Ronaldo drops to third this year, with longtime rival Lionel Messi (No. 2) edging him out after signing a new contract. Mayweather, Ronaldo and Tiger Woods (No. 16) are the only three athletes to top the best-paid list over the past 18 years. Cost of admission to the 2018 list is the highest ever at $22.9 million, up $1.5 million from the previous year, largely due to exploding salaries in the NBA. Endorsement income experienced a slight decline of 1% to $877 million this year.
“Boxing’s biggest night of 2017 helped Mayweather and McGregor earn nearly $400 million combined,” said Kurt Badenhausen, senior editor, Forbes Media. “But basketball players dominate the top 100 overall thanks to a soaring salary cap triggered by the NBA’s $24 billion TV contract.”
The list of elite athletes consists of players from 11 different sports. NBA stars lead with a record-topping 40 basketball players among the top 100, headed by LeBron James (No. 6 with $85.5 million). Football was the next most-represented sport with 18 players, followed by baseball with 14 and soccer with 9.
There are 22 different countries represented on this year’s World’s Highest-Paid Athletes list. Americans dominate the action with 66 athletes thanks to the sky-high salaries in the major sports leagues. The U.K. has five athletes, led by F1’s Lewis Hamilton (No. 12 with $51 million). The Dominican Republic and Spain have three athletes, while Argentina, Brazil, France, Japan and Venezuela all have two.
Methodology: Forbes earnings figures include all salaries, bonuses and prize money earned between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018. Endorsement incomes are an estimate of sponsorship deals, appearance fees and licensing income for the 12 months through June 1 based on conversations with dozens of industry insiders. The golfers’ income includes course-design work. We do not deduct for taxes or agents’ fees, and we do not include investment income. Our list includes athletes active at any point during the last 12 months.
The World’s Top 10 Highest-Paid Athletes in 2018:
Rank |
Athlete |
Sport |
Salary/Winnings ($mil) | Endorsements ($mil) | Total Earnings ($mil) |
1 | Floyd Mayweather | Boxing | 275 | 10 | 285 |
2 | Lionel Messi | Soccer | 84 | 27 | 111 |
3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Soccer | 61 | 47 | 108 |
4 | Conor McGregor | MMA | 85 | 14 | 99 |
5 | Neymar | Soccer | 71 | 19 | 90 |
6 | LeBron James | Basketball | 33.5 | 52 | 85.5 |
7 | Roger Federer | Tennis | 12.2 | 65 | 77.2 |
8 | Stephen Curry | Basketball | 34.9 | 42 | 76.9 |
9 | Matt Ryan | Football | 62.3 | 5 | 67.3 |
10 | Matthew Stafford | Football | 57.5 | 2 | 59. |
For the full list and more, visit www.forbes.com/athletes
Forbes Media Contacts:
Christina Vega, cvega@forbes.com
Crystal Kwok, ckwok@forbes.com