The lion’s share of their income is advertising.
Boxer Floyd Mayweather moved the soccer player Ronaldo from the first position, and a new contract Messi Barcelona allowed him to take second place.
Boxer Floyd Mayweather had a single night to regain his status as the highest-paid athlete in the world. His fight with MMA star Conor McGregor has brought to organizers more than $550 million in revenue. Floyd earned $275 million and sportier topped the Forbes, Conor — $85 million, and has risen from 24 th to 4-th place.
Compared to last year top ten list has been updated half. Russian athletes in the ranking no. Thanks to the new generous contracts have seriously advanced the Brazilian Neymar (deal with PSG), and two NFL player — Matt Ryan (“Atlanta Falcons”) and Matthew Stafford (“Detroit lions”). Leader in advertising revenues remained tennis player Roger Federer — $65 million.
The maximum representation of basketball players in the list of highest paid athletes – 40 — due to business success in the NBA: revenue growth of the League allows clubs to increase payroll costs.
In General, over the last 12 months (from June 2017 to June 2018) 100 most financially successful athletes from 11 sports earned $3.8 billion, which is 23% more than last year’s figures. In the gallery Forbes — a detailed accounting of the top ten ranking.
1. Floyd Mayweather, 41, USA
Sport: Boxing
Total revenue: $285 million
Salary/prize: $275 million
Advertising income: $10 million
For the fourth time in seven years, Mayweather climbed to the top spot of highest paid athletes. 36 minutes of battle against MMA stars Conor McGregor brought Floyd $275 million, including fixed fee and a portion of the 4.3 million sold broadcasts. Another $10 million at the expense of Mayweather added endorsement deals with Hublot and Tequila Avion. Hublot for the big event produced a series of hours — 100 pieces for $28 300 and limited edition of 10 pieces in yellow gold, decorated with more than 400 diamonds, at a price of $93 700. With the watch the buyer has received a Boxing glove signed by Mayweather. Thanks to a successful year with career earnings of Floyd reached $1 billion — such achievement among athletes can boast only Michael Jordan and tiger woods.
2. Lionel Messi, 30 years old, Argentina
Sports: soccer, Barcelona
Total revenue: $111 million
Salary/prize money: $84 million
Advertising income: $27 million
Scoring 45 goals in all competitions, Messi finished the season 2017/18 the top scorer in the top 5 European leagues. In November 2017, the footballer extended his contract with Barcelona until the summer of 2021. The new financial terms of the agreement ($80 million per year, including salary and signing bonus) made him the highest paid player in football. Incomes Messi will Supplement the proceeds from a lifetime deal with Adidas, and advertising contracts with Gatorade, Pepsi, Ooredoo, Huawei and Hawkers. In 2020 in the Chinese Nanjing will open the entertainment complex Park Messi Experience.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo, 33 years old, Portugal
Sports: soccer, real Madrid (Madrid, Spain)
Total income of $108 million
Salary/prize money $61 million
Advertising revenue of $47 million
In the 2017/18 season Ronaldo scored 44 goals in 43 matches and added to his resume fifth victory in the Champions League. In December 2017, the Portuguese for the fifth time received the “Golden ball” as best player in Europe. The current contract with real Madrid guarantees Ronaldo’s $50 million annual salary (plus bonuses) for another three seasons. His lifetime deal with Nike is worth more than $1 billion In affiliate portfolio of Cristiano many other agreements — for example, Herbalife, EA Sports and American Tourister. In addition, continues to expand the product line of the brand name CR7. Under the brand name already produce underwear, jeans, shoes, fragrance and baby products. There are branded hotels, and soon in Brazil will open the restaurants. Besides, Ronaldo is still the most popular athlete in the world, with 322 million subscribers in social networks.
4. Conor McGregor, 29 years, Ireland
Sports: MMA
Total income: $99 million
Salary/prize money: $85 million
Advertising income: $14 million
The main character MMA did not go in the cage since November of 2016, but I think their main money McGregor is already working on Boxing with Floyd Mayweather. This event brought him $85 million fee, five times more than the maximum he received for fighting before. Thanks to the hype surrounding the show Conor in the last 12 months has signed several advertising contracts. Among the sponsors are Burger King, Beats by Dre, Monster Energy, David August, BSN, Anheuser-Busch, HiSmile and Betsafe. In addition, McGregor has a partnership agreement with casino hotel Wynn Las Vegas — very handy for parties, plus the assets on the Internet (Conor McGregor FAST Program, MacMoji App, MacTalk App and the Mac Life) that also generate revenue.
5. Neymar, 26 years old, Brazil
Sports: football, PSG
Total revenue: $90 million
Salary/prize money: $73 million
Advertising income: $17 million
In August 2017 the Brazilian superstar signed a five-year agreement with the French PSG total cost of more than $600 million Of which $250 million has got “Barcelona” as compensation for the premature termination of the contract. The rest will get Neymar in salary until June 2022. 26-year-old has been successfully working with global sponsors like Nike, Red Bull, Gillette, McDonalds and Beats by Dre. He became the first player for whom nikovski brand developed the Air Jordan personal shoes.
6. LeBron James, 33 years, United States
Sports: basketball “Cleveland Cavaliers”
Total income of $85.5 million
Salary/prize of $33.5 million
Advertising revenue of $52 million
The four-time MVP’s main basketball League in the world eighth time in a row (and ninth in career) led his team to the NBA finals. During the 2017/18 season, he broke the old record Jordan for the duration of a series of matches with double-digit points and became the youngest player with 30 000 points for his career. His success outside the court are also impressive. In the partner list LeBron Nike, Coca-Cola (Sprite), Beats By Dre, Nike, Kia Motor, Intel and Blaze Pizza. In a Blaze he was an early investor, now it belongs to group 17 of the fastest growing franchises. Personalized sneakers LeBron is the best selling in the NBA. The player has his own production (SpringHill Entertainmen) and Kathe (Uninterrupted). Even a 2% stake in Liverpool FC, which LeBron is acquired through a partnership with Fenway Sports Group, have soared in price after the release of the teams in the Champions League final for the first time since 2007. In addition, James announced a big project for children in Ohio. Over three years, the Foundation plans to spend $41 million on free education for children in College, and in 2018 will open the first private primary school.
7. Roger Federer, 36 years old, Switzerland
Sports: tennis
Total revenue: $77.2 million
Salary/prize money: $12.2 million
Advertising income: $65 million
The greatest tennis player of all time, brought his record score titles “Grand slam” to 20. In 2018, Federer briefly regained the status of the first racket, becoming the oldest leader of rating ATP. During his career he won $116 million in prize money, but is he earns much more. Mercedes-Benz and Lindt resumed cooperation with Federer at the end of 2017. In the past year, partner of the tennis player became the pasta brand Barilla is the transaction value estimated at $40 million A sponsorship agreement Federer last more than ten years. In his advertising portfolio Nike, Wilson, Credit Suisse, Mercedes, Rolex, Lindt, Jura, Moet & Chandon, NetJets and Sunrise. By the end of 2018 charitable Foundation Roger has raised more than $40 million on an educational program for African children.
8. Stephen Curry, 30 years old, USA
Sports: basketball “Golden state Warriors”
Total income: $76,9 million
Salary/prize money: $34.9 million
Advertising income: $42 million
In the summer of 2017, Curry is the first NBA players signed a contract worth $200 million Five-year contract with the Warriors guaranteed him $201 million and almost tripled the previous year’s salary. A sponsorship deal with Under Armour, Chase, Vivo, eHi, Nissan/Infiniti, Brita, Bubble and JBL bring Curry $42 million in revenue. In 2018, Sony Pictures has announced a multi-year partnership with the basketball player. The new company Unanimous Media, created by Curry and his partners, will be engaged in the development and production of film and TV content, with a focus on family, religious and sports themes.
9. Matt Ryan, 33, USA
Sports: American football, “Atlanta Falcons”
Total revenue: $67.3 million
Salary/prize money: $62.3 million
Advertising revenue: $5 million
Ryan became the first player in the NFL with an annual salary of $30 million, when in may 2018 extended his contract with the Falcons until 2023. The deal set a new record for the League average salary ($30 million), the total amount of the contract ($150 million), guaranteed payments ($100 million) and subscription bonus ($46.5 million, with half deferred until April 2019). In 2016, Ryan won the prize for most valuable player of the season and led his team to the super bowl. This had a positive impact on its marketing status. Among his partners Nike, Gatorade, Delta Airlines, IBM, Mercedes Benz and Banana Republic.
10. Matthew Stafford, 30 years, USA
Sports: American football, “Detroit lions”
Total revenue: $59.5 million
Salary: $57.5 million
Advertising income: $2 million
Last summer, Stafford was signed by chic (for a while even the record) the contract with “lions”: five years and $135 million, $60.5 million of guaranteed payments added signing bonus of $50 million, divided into two tranches — in August of 2017 and early 2018. The rich advertising portfolio Stafford represented Nike, PepsiCo, Fanatics, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Ford Motor, Panini and St. Joe’s Hospital.