ESPN Top Salaries in Sports 2011
Here is a list of the highest salaries in 41 sports according to ESPN The Magazine. For 2011, baseball and boxing shared the title of paying out the highest individual salary with $32 million each. Women's bowling was the lowest, paying $40,300 to their top earner. See also the ESPN list of the top salaries from each country in 2011.
This list only includes the highest paid athlete in each sport based on the official base salary or earnings from the most recently completed season or calendar year, but does not include endorsements, appearance fees, sponsorship money and other sources of extra income. Only sports are listed in which the official salary data was available. For lists which include all income sources, see the Forbes and Sports Illustrated Top paid Athletes lists.
| rank | Sport | Salary (in USD) |
Athlete | League/Tour | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Baseball | $32,000,000 | Alex Rodriguez | MLB | 2011 Salary |
| =1 | Boxing | $32,000,000 | Manny Pacquiao | N/A | selection only based on Nth. American purse fights. This figure is for Manny's 2010 Estimated Purse (two fights) |
| 3 | Auto Racing | $26,333,333 | Kimi Raikkonen | World Rally Championship | 2010 Race Winnings (plus $12.7M from severed F1 contract) |
| 4 | Basketball | $24,800,000 | Kobe Bryant | NBA | 2010-11 Salary |
| 5 | Soccer | $19,500,000 | Cristiano Ronaldo | La Liga | 2010-11 Salary |
| 6 | Horse Racing (Jockey) | $17,411,880 | Ramon A. Dominguez | N/A | 2010 Earnings (not individual share) |
| 7 | Football | $15,800,000 | Peyton Manning | NFL | 2010 Salary |
| 8 | Tennis (Men) | $10,171,998 | Rafael Nadal | ATP | 2010 Prize Money |
| =9 | Hockey (Tie) | $10,000,000 | Vincent Lecavalier | NHL | 2010-11 Salary |
| =9 | $10,000,000 | Roberto Luongo | NHL | 2010-11 Salary | |
| 11 | Poker | $9,443,519 | Jonathan Duhamel | Various | Land-Based Tournament Winnings, April 4, 2010- April 3, 2011 |
| 12 | Golf (Men) | $5,867,601 | Luke Donald | European Tour PGA | 2010 Tournament Winnings |
| 13 | MMA | $5,300,000 | Brock Lesnar | UFC | Estimated Prize Money, ppv share |
| 14 | Tennis (Women) | $5,035,060 | Kim Clijsters | WTA | 2010 Prize Money |
| 15 | Golf (Women) | $1,871,165 | Na Yeon Choi | LPGA | 2010 Tournament Winnings |
| 16 | Bull Riding | $1,594,527 | Renato Nunes | Professional Bull Riders | 2010 Prize Money |
| 17 | Drag Racing | $1,371,000 | Larry Dixon | NHRA Top Fuel | 2010 Prize Money |
| 18 | Equestrian (Men) | $1,280,788 | McLain Ward | Show Jumping | 2010 Earnings |
| 19 | Darts | $1,044,000 | Phil Taylor | Professional Darts Corporation | 2010 Prize Money |
| 20 | Fishing | $915,500 | Kevin Vandam | Bassmaster Elite Series | 2010 Earnings |
| 21 | Distance Running (Women) | $695,000 | Liliya Shobukhova | Various | 2010 Prize Money |
| 22 | Equestrian (Women) | $627,907 | Laura Kraut | Show Jumping | 2010 Earnings |
| 23 | Distance Running (Men) | $617,000 | Samuel Wanjiru | Various | 2010 Prize Money |
| 24 | Surfing (Men) | $516,000 | Kelly Slater | ASP World Tour | 2010 Prize Money |
| 25 | Skiing (Women) | $509,542 | Lindsey Vonn | FIS World Cup Alpine skiing events | 2010-11 Prize Money |
| 26 | Rodeo | $507,920 | Trevor Brazile | Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association | 2010 Earnings |
| 27 | Skiing (Men) | $464,440 | Ivica Kostelic | FIS World Cup Alpine skiing events | 2010-11 Prize Money |
| 28 | Sumo | $400,000 | Hakuho | Japan Sumo Association | 2010 Salary |
| 29 | Beach Volleyball (Men) | $387,700 | Philip Dalhausser/Todd Rogers | FIVB | 2010 Prize Money |
| 30 | Beach Volleyball (Women) | $351,300 | Larissa Franca/Juliana Felisberta Da Silva | FIVB | 2010 Prize Money |
| 31 | Racquetball | $300,000 | Kane Waselenchuk | International Racquetball Tour | IRT 2010 Event, Appearance Fees, Earnings, Sponsorships |
| 32 | Triathlon (Women) | $239,800 | Emma Snowsill | International Triathlon Union | 2010 Prize Money |
| 33 | Triathlon (Men) | $223,600 | Tim Don | International Triathlon Union | 2010 Prize Money |
| 34 | Eating | $218,500 | Joey Chestnut | Major League Eating | 2010 Earnings |
| 35 | Squash | $166,926 | Nick Matthew | Professional Squash Association | 2010 Prize Money |
| 36 | Bowling (Men) | $152,670 | Walter Ray Williams Jr. | PBA | 2009-10 Prize Money |
| 37 | Surfing (Women) | $140,700 | Stephanie Gilmore | ASP World Tour | 2010 Prize Money |
| 38 | Billiards (Men) | $118,494 | Darren Appleton | N/A | 2010 Prize Money |
| 39 | Billiards (Women) | $67,930 | Ga-Young Kim | N/A | 2010 Prize Money |
| 40 | Sled Dog | $50,400 | John Baker | Iditarod | 2011 First-Place Racing Prize Money |
| 41 | Bowling (Women) | $40,300 | Shannon Pluhowsky | PBA | 2009-10 Prize Money |
Source
- This data was published in ESPN The Magazine (May 2, 2011).
Related Pages
- More ESPN lists, including the list of the top salaries from each country in 2011.
- other sporting lists, including the Forbes list of the World's Best Paid Athletes
- More about the World of Sport
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