Top five highest earners in sport

Eurosport - Tue, 20 Oct 17:12:00 2009

With the news that Cristiano Ronaldo is set to become football's first billionaire, our weekly Top Five feature runs down a selection of the world's richest sports stars.

2009-2010 Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo - 0

Cristiano Ronaldo

The former Manchester United ace is to be offered a staggering £1.5 million a game to take part in a series of friendlies in the Middle East, according to a report in the Daily Star. Ronaldo, bought by Real for £80m in the summer, already earns £12m a year at the Bernabeu, while pocketing a small fortune from a number of endorsement deals and his three clothing boutiques.

Tiger Woods

Woods became the world's first billion dollar athlete after receiving the $10m (£6m) bonus for winning this year's FedEx Cup. The American has 14 Majors and 71 PGA Tour titles to his name but it is his endorsements that have really boosted his bank balance. In 2000, the world number one signed a five-year $105 million (£63.8m) contract with Nike and also has deals with American Express, Buick, TAG Heuer and EA Sports, as well being the face of Gillette (alongside Roger Federer and Thierry Henry), a deal reportedly worth $10m-$20m (£6m-£12m).

Roger Federer

With 14 Grand Slam titles, Federer has brought home millions in prize money as well as having lucrative sponsorship deals with Nike. Rolex, Wilson and Gillette. Federer banked $36m (£21.9) in the 12 months since September 2008 and became the first tennis player to surpass $50m (£29.9m) in career earnings on the court when he won his first-round match at this year's US Open. Appearance fees and sponsorship deals have added another $28m (£17.1m), with his Nike deal alone said to be worth an extra $10m (£6m) annually.

Michael Schumacher

The seven-times world champion was earning a cool $80m (£48.7m) a year at his peak in 2003, when he won his sixth F1 world title. His $40m (£24.3m) annual salary was a record at the time and matched by sponsorship endorsements and championship bonuses. Schumacher has earned an estimated $700m (£426.3) since his Formula One debut in 1991 and continues to add to that as an adviser for former team Ferrari, as well as various media commitments.

Michael Jordan

Jordan retired for the third time six years ago but still rakes in $45m (£27.5m) annually, thanks to his clothing deal with Nike. At his peak with the Chicago Bulls in 1998-9, Jordan earned $69m (£42.1m) a year from his salary and endorsement deals. The Charlotte Bobcats head of basketball operations has earned an estimated total of $800m (£488.5m).

Pippa Davis / Eurosport

Comment 76 - 95 of 95

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  1. Jordan is the only athlete EVER that is worthy of that­ sort of money... a complete professional on and off the­ court

    From mark, on Tue 17 Nov 2:54PM

  2. We should not blame those sportmans and high earners.­ Will you say 'No' if you got that big salary?­ Think about yourself you buy good brand name products,­ buy expensive tickets, pay monthly to watch televistion­ programs, musics, gambles and etc. How crazy are we?­ We change kitchen units, furnitures unit every few­ years, drink a lot of glass of wine and beer and other­ stuffs. Its a free market. Companies, they can pay a­ lot to those sportmans, movie stars, and ohter high­ earners because they also earn a lot from our pockets. ­ Its us who control these things. Stop or use less of­ unnescessary things and keep life simpler. Pay for a­ reasonable price of products, services, and­ entertainments bases on quality and fairness but not on­ advertisement. Good luck for everyone.

    From Dr. Ken, on Mon 26 Oct 9:36AM

  3. What'a all this talk about Poor Surgeons. Are you­ having a laugh? surgeons, struggling to afford weekly­ shopping, I don't know where you live but in the­ U.K you would struggle to find a surgeon on less than­ £250,000 a year, thats 10 times the average salary.­ Poor surgeons , Ha!

    From Andrew, on Mon 26 Oct 8:44AM

  4. Oh David, Why Aren't We In The Top 5?­ .............................. I want it,..... make it­ happen............ now!! ............... I want all­ those commoners to waste their money and pay for us to­ be there!

    From Moonshine, on Mon 26 Oct 8:23AM

  5. the money their on is a joke,i no the fans pay 4 it but­ that kinda money should go to­ paramedics,nurses,fireman,the real people who deserve­ the money for saving lifes.they wouldnt earn that in a­ life time.they should donate their easily earned wealth­ to the people who need it.WHERE IN THE CREDIT­ CRUNCH,HELP PEOPLE LIKE US ON A PITTANCE

    From Will, on Mon 26 Oct 8:03AM

  6. HOW SILLY PEOPLE ARE TO PAY £££s TO WATCH A CHILDS GAME­ AND MAKE THESE ATTENTION SEEKERS MEGA RICH !!!

    From STEPHEN, on Mon 26 Oct 7:58AM

  7. ronlado top class player - money ridiculous - everyone­ is saying aaaah yerh they dont deserve it were the ones­ paying for it we want to watch them on t.v by tickets­ for there games races. We support them for our country­ they represent a whole country a whole club .

    From david, on Mon 26 Oct 7:49AM

  8. It does now seem that the numbers earned by these­ sports "stars" are just really a case of ego,­ you're never going to convince any normal person­ that they need this sort of income, simply because they­ don't. It would be nice if a few more of them were­ more philanthropic!

    From mycar_email, on Mon 26 Oct 7:41AM

  9. I have not read all the comments and I'm sure it­ has been pointed out by somebody else...but Federer has­ 15 Grand Slam titles and not 14 as reported. He­ surpassed Sampras's 14 with this year's­ Wimbledon win over Andy Roddick. Somebody is not doing­ their research properly...sloppy journalism as always!

    From nick&julia f, on Mon 26 Oct 7:21AM

  10. It is a sad reflection of our world, when someone as­ mediocre as Ronaldo becomes a billionaire! What an­ absolute joke of a man he is. The European Cup Final­ last season showed the whole world how average this­ player is. It's a scandal really, especially when­ you read about all the starving millions in Ethiopia.­ It's basic economics; if someone's got all this­ money, then a million people go without.

    From Sam, on Mon 26 Oct 7:05AM

  11. The simple fact that even those who are underemployed­ and even out of work are willing to pay a months wages­ to see some games tell me that the world has really­ lost direction. People have little self worth and they­ look to these 'heroes' to give them some­ inspiration and something to cheer and talk about­ amidst all the misery.

    You cant blame the sportsmen,­ my only beef is that very few do anything for the­ communities they came from, just conspicuous­ consumption.

    The real culprits are the big Media and­ Sports gear/Merchandising outfits that have preyed on­ the social malaise.
    Of course in the middle of all this­ are the Financial 'wizards' and lawyers who­ craft all these deals for their big cuts.

    Have a nice­ day all...................

    From Frank, on Mon 26 Oct 7:05AM

  12. Surgeons­ WTF! What planet are you on they are paid­ and ridiculous amount of money, for a general surgeon­ the average wage is around £175,000 annually, i­ wouldn't mind that. In my opinion the people that­ clean the tubes and the streets at night and keep the­ cities running for everyone else should get paid more,­ they are the core of a society.

    From Gary, on Mon 26 Oct 6:57AM

  13. It's a shame that people who play a child's­ game earn so much while war heroes and surgeons­ struggle to get their weeks shopping.

    From Liam B, on Mon 26 Oct 5:54AM

  14. The reason why these sportspeople are successful and­ earn this money is because they are talented and work­ hard at what they do well. If we all followed our­ dreams and focussed on what our gifts you would gain­ this happiness too. It is very lucky that they are­ earning this money for something they are passionate­ about. But money surely is not everything. To be­ healthy, love, family and supportive positive friends­ are surely attainable goals. It depends what you wish­ for. If you wish to be the best football or basketball­ player in the world, then go on do it! or if you wish­ to have a family, work in a grocery store or be a­ fisherman and that makes you happy, then do it! It may­ not be fair but why concern ourselves with this, we­ cannot change this, the world is unfair in many ways­ but we should focus more on making ourselves happy and­ those around us.

    From Princess in Disguise, on Mon 26 Oct 4:55AM

  15. its a shame we dont idolise surgeons or people that­ cure illnesses as much as we do some of these people­ that kick, hit, or bounce a ball around or drive a car­ around a track!

    From paulg, on Mon 26 Oct 4:10AM

  16. paul.oneill,stay positive, with an attitude like that­ you can go far!Good luck!

    From MichealS, on Mon 26 Oct 2:50AM

  17. I CANT FIND A JOB, AND ONLY GET £57 PER­ WEEK............................BUT YOU KNOW­ WHAT??????
    IM SOOOOOOO HAPPPYYYY BECAUSE I LOVE MY­ FAMILY AND WE ARE ALL HEALTHY..
    GOOD LUCK TO ALL YOU­ BIG EARNERS..

    From paul.oneill, on Sun 25 Oct 11:15PM

  18. u make yr own luck in this life some are just lucker­ than others

    From mick.jacklin, on Sun 25 Oct 7:27PM

  19. roger federer has 15 grand slams titles do your­ research

    From PriscaS, on Sun 25 Oct 4:15PM

  20. tomesilva .. what the @#$% ??

    From Mark, on Sun 25 Oct 4:06PM
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