The World's Highest-Paid Athletes
Athletes from 11 sports and 23 countries made the cut for Forbes’ 2013 look at the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes. Our earnings figures include salaries, bonuses, prize money, appearance fees, as well as licensing and endorsement income for the 12 months between June 1, 2012 and June 1, 2013. We do not include investment income or deduct for taxes and agents’ fees.
#1 Tiger Woods
#2 Roger Federer
Total Earnings: $71.5 million
Salary/winnings: $6.5 million
Endorsements: $65 million
Federer has the most impressive endorsement portfolio in sports, with 10 sponsors that collectively pay him more than $40 million annually, including long-term deals with Nike, Rolex, Wilson and Credit Suisse. The newest addition is champagne brand Moet & Chandon, which signed Federer to a five-year deal at the end of 2012. Federer’s income surged after a barnstorming exhibition tour of South America that netted him $14 million for six events. Federer is widely perceived as the greatest tennis player ever. He holds the records for most singles Grand Slam wins (17) and career prize money ($77 million).
#3 Kobe Bryant
Total earnings: $61.9 million
Salary/winnings: $27.9 million
Endorsements: $34 million
Bryant had the highest salary in the NBA for the third straight year during the 2012-13 season. His $27.85 million salary is $7 million higher than any other player. Bryant made the All-NBA first team for the eighth straight year this season and passed Wilt Chamberlain for fourth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Bryant is still a huge draw, particularly overseas where he had the NBA’s best-selling jersey during the 2011-12 season. This year Bryant added Hublot to his endorsement roster, which already included Nike, Coca-Cola, Turkish Airlines, Lenovo, Panini and Mercedes-Benz.
#4 LeBron James
Total Earnings: $59.8 million
Salary/winnings: $17.8 million
Endorsements: $42 million
King James had a memorable 2012 as he won his first NBA title, third MVP Award and a second Olympic Gold Medal. He joined an exclusive group of four Hall of Famers with his fourth MVP Award after the 2012-13 season. James is the NBA's biggest endorsement star, thanks to deals with Nike, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Samsung and others. Sales of his signature Nike shoes rose 50% to $300 million in the U.S. during 2012, according to research firm SportsOneSource. He outsold his nearest NBA competitor by a 6-to-1 margin in the U.S.
#5 Drew Brees
Total Earnings: $51 million
Salary/winnings: $40 million
Endorsements: $11 million
Brees signed a five-year, $100 million contract extension in July 2012 with the New Orleans Saints that included a $37 million signing bonus. Brees was rewarded for six Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl title since he joined the Saints in 2006. Brees is one of the NFL’s most successful pitchmen with a dozen endorsement deals, including Nike, Procter & Gamble, Verizon Wireless, PepsiCo and Wrangler. His foundation, Brees Dream Foundation, has contributed $17 million to charitable causes and academic institutions in New Orleans, San Diego and West Lafayette/Purdue communities.
#6 Aaron Rodgers
Total Earnings: $49 million
Salary/winnings: $43 million
Endorsements: $6 million
Aaron Rodgers was arguably the NFL’s best player over the past two seasons, leading the NFL in passer rating and throwing 84 touchdowns and only 14 interceptions. This year he finally got the contract to match. Rodgers signed a five-year, $110 million deal in April that made him the highest-paid player in the NFL on an annual basis. It included a $35 million signing bonus and $62.5 million in the first three years of the deal. Rodgers is one of the top-paid football guys in the Nike stable and his “Discount Double Check” commercials for State Farm are a national hit.
#7 Phil Mickelson
Total Earnings: $48.7 million
Salary/winnings: $4.7 million
Endorsements: $44 million
Mickelson was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame last year, reflecting a stellar career that includes 41 PGA victories (ninth all-time), $70 million in career prize money (second all-time) and four major titles (tied for second-most during the past 20 years). Mickelson earns more than $30 million annually from endorsement partners: Callaway, Barclay's, KPMG, Exxon, Rolex and Amgen/Pfizer. He picked up a deal to promote psoriatic arthritis drug Enbrel after he was diagnosed with the disease in 2010 and used the drug for his treatment.
#8 David Beckham
Total Earnings: $47.2 million
Salary/winnings: $5.2 million
Endorsements: $42 million
Beckham announced his retirement from soccer after a five-month stay at Paris Saint-Germain, where Becks won his tenth league title to put a bow on his decorated 21-year career. Beckham donated his $5.3 million salary at PSG to a children’s charity. He can afford it. The British icon banked $42 million from commercial endorsements with sponsors like Adidas, Coty, H&M, Sainsbury’s, Samsung and his newest partner, Breitling. Beckham will be busy in retirement. He signed a multi-year deal to become an ambassador for the Chinese Super League, a role which will see him make three trips in 2013 to the country and play an exhibition game. He also plans to buy an MLS team, a contractual right he was granted when he joined the league in 2007.
#9 Cristiano Ronaldo
Total Earnings: $44 million
Salary/winnings: $23 million
Endorsements: $21 million
Ronaldo was runner-up in 2012 in voting for the world's best player of the year after notching 60 goals in 55 games. Contract extension talks with Real Madrid stalled prior to the start of the 2012-13 season over the player's share in his image rights. He currently splits them 60-40 with the club, known for usually taking 50% of a player's rights. The Portuguese winger has a lot at stake -- he currently earns nearly half of his $44 million income from sponsors. His current contract with Real runs through the 2014-15 season.
#10 Lionel Messi
Total Earnings: $41.3 million
Salary/winnings: $20.3 million
Endorsements: $21 million
After scoring 91 goals in all competitions last year to break a 40-year-old world record held by Gerd Muller, Messi won FIFA’s world player of the year award for a record fourth year in a row. Barcelona rewarded the 25-year old who started his career as a youth at the club with a record contract extension through 2018 that will pay him more than $20 million annually. Adidas launched his icon signature line in 2013. It is only the second time the company has done so for one of its brand ambassadors (the first was with David Beckham).
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