World's Highest-Paid Athletes

Data

Source: Forbes — World's Highest-Paid Athletes 2024. Earnings cover May 2023 – May 2024. Figures in USD millions.

Note: What You Should Know About the Highest-Paid Athletes

The "highest-paid athletes" story is almost never just about a game-check. Forbes — the source behind this page — measures each athlete's total earnings, which combine two very different money streams: on-field / on-court income (salaries, winnings, prize money, and bonuses) and off-field endorsements (shoe deals, sponsorships, appearances, and licensing). The figures on this page cover a specific 12-month window, roughly May 2023 to May 2024, in USD millions. That's why the list is a snapshot of one season rather than a career ranking — and why numbers can shift quickly when a new contract or move to another league is signed.

How the top earners build their fortunes

• Cristiano Ronaldo tops the chart at $260M total — $230M on-field plus $30M in endorsements. Most of that on-field figure comes from a massive contract with Saudi club Al Nassr.
• Lionel Messi follows at $190M ($135M on-field + $55M endorsements), earning from Inter Miami and his lifelong commercial relationships.
• LeBron James pulls in $128M but reverses the usual mix: a comparatively modest $48M on-court, with a huge $80M in endorsements and business ventures.
• Roger Federer proves the endorsement point even more sharply — just $0.7M on the court but $90M off it (in a year where he moved toward the end of his active tour career, $90.7M total), showing a personal brand can out-earn an active playing schedule.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo ($107M), Stephen Curry ($87M), and Tyson Fury ($95M) round out the $90–110M tier, each blending trophy payouts with sponsor ties.

Why some sports dominate the list

• Football / soccer has global reach, so its superstars (Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappé, Neymar) land enormous contracts plus world-spanning sponsorships.
• Basketball pays huge max contracts and its NBA stars (LeBron, Giannis, Curry) carry massive shoe and media deals.
• Boxing earners like Canelo Álvarez and Tyson Fury score in one or two mega-bouts a year — few fights, big purses, and pay-per-view revenue.
• Golf stars benefit from the LIV era, with players like Jon Rahm ($58M) topping prize money with guaranteed appearance fees, while Tiger Woods long proved a golfer can rival younger athletes on sponsorship alone.
• Tennis (Federer, Djokovic) and American football (Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes) fill the middle of the chart with big league contracts and signature deals.

A few things to keep in mind

• Endorsements usually outlast careers — brands want icons with global appeal, not just current results.
• On-field income can vary wildly by sport; a boxer's "salary" is a fight-by-fight purse, not a fixed yearly contract.
• These are pre-tax gross figures — what an athlete actually keeps is lower after taxes, agent fees, and training costs.
• Forbes updates its list annually, so "No. 1" can change with a single new contract announcement.
• Currency, exchange rates, and reporting dates can shift totals between sources and years.

Fun facts

• Athletes from just six sports — soccer, basketball, boxing, golf, tennis, and American football — fill the entire top 15 on this page.
• Ronaldo earned more on his own in one year than several small countries' entire sports budgets — roughly $260M in this snapshot.
• An endorsement-driven star like Federer can out-earn an active playing champion on sponsors alone.
• Prize money is often the smallest share for the biggest names; the "brand" is the real asset.
• The same athlete can move up or down the list dramatically in one 12-month window — just look at how newcomer contracts shake up each edition.

Bottom line: being the world's highest-paid athlete is about combining elite performance with a marketable personal brand — and the mix of on-field pay and endorsements tells you how.