The World's Highest Paid Athletes List 2019
The top earner for 2019 is footballer (soccer player) Lionel Messi with earnings totaling 127 million USD. Messi is only the fourth athlete to rank in the No. 1 spot over the past 19 years, joining Tiger Woods (12 times), Floyd Mayweather (4) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2). Last year's number one, Floyd Mayweather, did not make the top 100 in 2019. Serena Williams was the only woman in the top 100 list for 2019, ranked 63rd.
Below is the top 10 of the highest earning sportspeople for 2019, taken from the annual list “The World's 100 Highest-Paid Athletes” published by Forbes magazine in June 2019. The earnings totals (in US dollars) are derived from salaries, bonuses, prize money, appearance fees, licensing and endorsement income in the 12 months from June 1, 2018 to June 1, 2019. Taxes or agents' fees are not factored into the figures. See also the Forbes top-earning lists from other years.
Top-10 Highest Earning Sports people from 2019
| Rank | Name | Sport | Nationality | Earnings ($ million) | Previous Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Soccer | Argentina | 127 | 2 |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Soccer | Portugal | 109 | 3 |
| 3 | Neymar | Soccer | Brazil | 105 | 5 |
| 4 | Canelo Alvarez | Boxing | Mexico | 94 | 15 |
| 5 | Roger Federer | Tennis | Switzerland | 93.4 | 7 |
| 6 | Russell Wilson | American Football | USA | 89.5 | ?? |
| 7 | Aaron Rogers | American Football | USA | 89.3 | ?? |
| 8 | LeBron James | Basketball | USA | 89 | 6 |
| 9 | Stephen Curry | Basketball | USA | 79.8 | 8 |
| 10 | Kevin Durant | Basketball | USA | 65.4 | 11 |
Next on the list were: Tiger Woods, Ben Roethlisberger, Lewis Hamilton, Anthony Joshua, Khalil Mack, Russell Westbrook, Novak Djokovic, Mike Trout, Phil Mickelson, James Harden.
Russell Wilson was the highest paid athlete from the NFLHighest Ranked For Each Sport in 2019
The highest ranked from each sport is listed below. This year 10 different sports were represented on the list. Basketball was the highest-paying sport overall, with 35 NBA players making the top 100, followed by the NFL with 19 players on the list.
| Sport | Overall Rank | Name | earning ($ million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soccer | 1 | Lionel Messi | 127 |
| Boxing | 4 | Canelo Alvarez | 94 |
| Tennis | 5 | Roger Federer | 93.4 |
| American Football | 6 | Russell Wilson | 89.5 |
| Basketball | 8 | LeBron James | 89 |
| Golf | 11 | Tiger Woods | 63.9 |
| Auto Racing | 13 | Lewis Hamilton | 51 |
| Baseball | 17 | Mike Trout | 50.6 |
| MMA | 21 | Conor McGregor | 47 |
| Cricket | 100 | Virat Kohli | 25 |
source: from “The World's 100 Highest-Paid Athletes” published by Forbes magazine in June 2019.
Related Pages
- See the top earning lists from other years.
- top paid women for 2019
- Other world sport lists
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