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Sports, a multi million dollar career: This is what top 10 athletes earned last year

Sports, a multi million dollar career: This is what top 10 athletes earned last year

BI India Bureau

Successful sports stars make exorbitant amounts of money both on and off the field.
Forbes list of the world’s highest paid athletes for the last 12 months sees the income of the top 10 athletes soar like never before.
The Forbes data pertains to those athletes who were active at any point during the 12 months period.

There are many things that push young athletes towards sports, apart from passion and love for the game. But, a successful sporting career also brings in millions of dollars. Apart from on-field earnings, advertising and even investments by top sporting personalities boosted their earnings in the last twelve months, as per a report by Forbes.
Forbes figures pertaining to on-field earnings include the salaries, prize money and bonuses earned from May 1, 2022 to May 1, 2023. Figures about off-field earnings include an estimate of appearance fees, sponsorship deals, licensing fee and memorabilia for these twelve months in addition to cash returns from the businesses these players run.
So, here is the estimated total income of the top 10 athletes for the twelve months period demarcated above.

#1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Topping the list is Cristiano Ronaldo, the 38 year old Portuguese soccer player. Ronaldo has made $46 million on-field and $90 million off-field with his income totaling to roughly $136 million. This is the highest earnings reported in his career. He also has 850 million followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

#2 Lionell Messi

Argentina’s star soccer player Lionell Messi’s total income is $130 million — split up as $65 million on-field and another $65 million off-field. The top rated endorsements of this 35 year old include PepsiCo, Adidas and Budweiser. In October, he launched Play Time, an investment firm.

#3 Kylian Mbappe

Third in the list of athletes with top incomes is Kylian Mbappe with an estimated on-field earnings of $100 million and off-field earnings of $20 million. Mbappe is a soccer player from France. Last year, Mbappe was in the 35th position among the world’s highest earning players. Sorare, a crypto-currency company, made him its first player ambassador in June.

#4 LeBron James

Basketball legend LeBron James earned $119.5 million during the year. The 38 year old is also the first active athlete to become a Forbes certified billionaire in June. He has a stake in Fenway Sports Group and has invested in the sportswear brand Mitchell & Ness, and Neutral Foods, a climate-conscious dairy company.

#5 Canelo Álvarez

Canelo Álvarez’s total income for the period is estimated at $110 million. The 32 year old Mexican boxer is associated with Yaoca, the famed sports drink and I Can, a renowned sportswear brand. He also has his own branded credit card, a cocktail brand and a clothing brand too.

#6 Dustin Johnson

Dustin Johnson ranks sixth on the list with an income of $107 million. The US based golf player is 38 years old. Johnson is the first star to jump to LIV Golf during last May. His 2022 tour fetched him $35.6 million as prize money.

#7 Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson, 52 year old golf player based in the US, earned $106 million. During last year, his career pre-tax earnings surpassed $1 billion. He is the co-founder of the coffee supplements company Wellness, and also purchased a huge plot of land outside of Phoenix.

#8 Stephen Curry

Stephen Curry, who ranks eighth on the list, earned $100.4 million in the twelve month period. This 35 year old US-based basketball star plays almost exclusively at the point guard position and is known to be one of the greatest shooters in NBA history.

#9 Roger Federer

Roger Federer’s total income for the period is an estimated $95.1 million. The Switzerland based tennis player declared his retirement from competitive tennis last September when he turned 40. Last week, the tennis legend announced a licensing agreement with Oliver People’s eyewear brand.

#10 Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant earned an estimated $89.1 million. The US based basketball player has stakes in several entities like Premier Lacrosse League, League One Volleyball, nutrition brand Happy Viking, and others.