According to Forbes’ announcement, Ronaldo became the world’s highest-paid athlete after moving to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr team, with the 39-year-old player’s estimated total income being about 260 million USD in the past year. The last 12 months, an all-time high for a footballer.
Accordingly, the Portuguese superstar’s on-field income is up to 200 million USD, while his income from off-field activities is 60 million USD thanks to lucrative sponsorship contracts.
With about 629 million followers on Instagram, this is a great advantage for Ronaldo to attract sponsorship from brands, including Nike, Binance and Herbalife.
Meanwhile, ranked 3rd on the list is the owner of 8 Golden Balls – Lionel Messi. Switching to Inter Miami – the American professional team – Major League Soccer helped the World Cup champion earn 135 million USD.
The 36-year-old Argentine superstar’s on-field income is 65 million USD, plus about 70 million USD thanks to contracts with major sponsors such as Adidas and Apple.
Spanish golfer Jon Rahm ranked second after moving to the LIV Golf tournament last December in a deal that shocked the golf world. Media reported that the world’s No. 5 golfer will be paid at least 300 million USD for joining LIV Golf.
In addition to that guarantee, Rahm earned $218 million and along with Ronaldo became the only two athletes in the world to surpass the $200 million mark in earnings.
Ranked fourth is Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James with $128.2 million in income. Even though he is 39 years old, the first star to score 40,000 points in his career in the American Professional Basketball League (NBA) will still have the opportunity to shine at the Olympics.
Another NBA star, Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee Bucks, also entered the top 5 with 111 million USD, while France captain Kylian Mbappé dropped to 6th place (110 million USD).
Mbappé announced he would leave Paris St Germain after seven years with the French capital, where he became the club’s all-time top scorer. The 25-year-old is expected to join Spanish giants Real Madrid in the close season.
Another former PSG star, Neymar, who also moved to the Saudi Pro League to join Al-Hilal, is currently ranked 7th ($108 million) despite sitting out most of the season due to injury.
French striker Karim Benzema, who is also playing in Saudi Arabia, ranked 8th (106 million USD) on the list, followed by Golden State Warriors basketball star Stephen Curry (102 million USD).
Lamar Jackson is the only player from the American National Football League (NFL) on the list, ranked 10th with an income of 100.5 million USD, thanks to a new contract negotiated with the Baltimore Ravens last year. .
