Saul Alvarez
The Forbes ranking showed: the era of sports superstars over 35 continues. Ronaldo, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Lionel Messi and LeBron James made the top four of the list. Together they earned nearly $748 million – more than the rest of the top 10 combined.
Ronaldo’s main source of income remains his contract with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nasr. Forbes estimates that the soccer player earned $235 million on the field, with another $65 million from advertising, partnerships and his own brand. Forbes notes that the audience of the Portuguese in social networks approached 942 million followers.
In second place is Mexican boxer Saul Alvarez with an income of $170 million. Most of the sum was provided by fees for fights, but Canelo is actively developing business outside the ring – from a network of gas stations to fitness applications and his own clothing brand.
The third line was taken by Lionel Messi ($140 million). The Argentine practically equalized sports and commercial income: $70 million each inside and outside the soccer field. After moving to MLS and Inter Miami, Messi’s brand continues to grow, and his lifetime contract with Adidas remains one of the largest in world sport.
LeBron James with $137.8 million became the highest paid basketball player in the world. And the bulk of the American’s income comes from investments, media projects and advertising contracts. Forbes calls James the first active billionaire in the history of the NBA.
Japanese baseball player Sehei Otani became one of the main phenomena of the rating. Out of $127.6 million, only $2.6 million came from his sports salary – the rest was provided by advertising agreements with more than two dozen brands.
The top ten also includes Stephen Curry, Jon Rahm, Karim Benzema, Kevin Duran and Lewis Hamilton.
In total, the members of the top 10 earned more than $1.4 billion for the year, one of the largest figures in the history of the Forbes ranking. The list increasingly reflects the new geography of global sports: Saudi Arabia, American leagues and the global advertising market are now shaping athletes’ incomes no less than victories on the field or titles.
