The world’s two top soccer players have flipped spots and wear new jerseys but have familiar paychecks, earning a combined $235 million this season.



Before 24 hours had passed on the news that soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo had ditched Italy’s Juventus to join England’s Manchester United, the superstar striker became the best-selling player on the Fanatics sports merchandise site. He topped the sales for other top players who jumped teams in recent years, including the NFL’s Tom Brady in 2020, the NBA’s LeBron James in 2018 and MLB’s Bryce Harper in 2019.



But his sweetest win may have been outselling soccer rival Lionel Messi, who just weeks earlier had announced he was leaving Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain.



It’s the kind of selling power that comes from being the world’s most popular athlete—with more than a half-billion followers across Facebook (149 million), Instagram (344 million) and Twitter (94.3 million)—and helped him reclaim the top spot on this year’s&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;ranking of the highest-paid soccer players in the world.



Ronaldo is set to earn $125 million before taxes in the 2021-22 season, with $70 million coming from salary and bonus for his return to United, where between 2003 and 2009 he delivered three consecutive Premier League titles and a Champions League crown. The rest comes from personal endorsements and partnerships with brands including Nike, Herbalife, Clear and his ever-expanding CR7 branded portfolio that includes perfume, underwear, eyewear, hotels, gyms and more. Only&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/athletes/">three other active athletes</a>&nbsp;make more commercially: Roger Federer ($90 million), LeBron James ($65 million) and Tiger Woods ($60 million). And there is no sign that Ronaldo is slowing down, with the 36-year-old still outperforming plenty of his opponents in Europe, most of whom are ten years his junior: Ronaldo marked his return to Man U’s Old Trafford by hitting the back of the net twice. He now has four goals in three games on the season in the world’s best league.



Knocked out of the No. 1 spot is his longtime rival, the 34-year-old Lionel Messi, who after 21 years at Barcelona—and a soap-opera year of departure drama—jumped to PSG, where he will be paid $75 million this season, helping put him at No. 2 on the list with $110 million. Messi was forced to jump after Spain’s La Liga clamped down on FC Barcelona’s wage spending, forcing the club to end negotiations with its record six-time world’s top player of the year, who had played for Barça since he was 13 years old. He’ll pad his PSG paycheck with an estimated $35 million in endorsements from the likes of Adidas, Pepsi, watchmaker Jacobs &amp; Co and Budweiser, which he just picked up last year under a three-year deal.



In total, the ten highest-paid soccer players are expected to collect pre-tax earnings of $585 million this season, up from last year’s $570 million. Salary and bonus make up the bulk of the total—$415 million—and are up&nbsp;a modest 2.6%&nbsp;from last year as most clubs continue to be cautious in the face of&nbsp;uncertainty around emerging Covid-19 strains. In May, UEFA, Europe’s governing body of soccer, released a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/news/0269-1253ff5b31fa-d405a08e420d-1000--football-s-solidarity-in-face-of-covid-shock/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>&nbsp;that said its top-flight clubs were facing a whopping $8.5 billion pandemic-related revenue loss, putting a damper on major player movement.



Still, the big-ticket jumps at the top of the list show the lucrative earning power of global soccer’s top players, who outearned their peers in North America’s MLS by a factor of ten.



PSG now claims three of the world’s five highest-paid players, including the 29-year-old Neymar, who lands at No. 3 once again with $95 million, and the 22-year-old Kylian Mbappe, who is No. 4 with $43 million. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, 29, rounds out the top five with $41 million.&nbsp;This year, the 37-year-old Andres Iniesta returns as the only player from a non-European team, landing at No. 7 with $35 million after signing a two-year contract extension with Vissel Kobe in Japan, his club since he left Barcelona in 2018.



To compile our list, we spoke with clubs, players’ agents, commercial sponsors and worldwide soccer experts. All figures are converted to U.S. dollars using the current exchange rate and include salaries (pre-tax) for the 2021-22 season, bonuses and endorsements. Transfer fees are excluded.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/1-1024x576.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52588" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/1-1024x576.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/1-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/1-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/1-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/1-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Getty Images </figcaption></figure></div>



After Ronaldo finished last season with Juventus as the top goal scorer in Series A and won the award for the best player in the European Championship, Manchester United announced he was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/cristiano-ronaldo-completes-transfer-to-man-utd-from-juventus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coming home</a>&nbsp;to Old Trafford, where he previously played from 2003 to 2009, scoring 118 goals in 292 games for United. Over his 18-year career, he has won 32 major trophies, including five UEFA Champions League titles, the UEFA European Championship for his native Portugal and seven league titles in England, Spain and Italy, making him the first player to win titles in the three countries. In early September, the 36-year-old set a record as the greatest goal scorer of all time in international soccer when he hit the back of the net for the 110th time in his country’s World Cup qualifying win against Ireland. Ronaldo has made&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2020/06/04/ronaldos-105-million-year-tops-messi-and-crowns-him-soccers-first-billion-dollar-man/">over $1 billion</a>&nbsp;in career earnings before taxes, the first team-sport athlete in the world to hit that milestone.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/5-1024x576.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52593" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/5-1024x576.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/5-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/5-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/5-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/5-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Getty Images </figcaption></figure></div>



It was the end of a glorious era when Barcelona announced that Messi would not continue with the club because of La Liga financial obstacles. Over his 21 years with the only team he ever knew, Messi scored 672 goals and had 268 assists on his way to 35 titles and 78 awards (including a record six Ballon d’Or trophies for the sport’s best player). He also pocketed $875 million in salary and bonus and another $350 million from endorsements for a total of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2020/08/21/the-next-billion-dollar-athlete-lionel-messi-closes-in/">more than $1 billion</a>&nbsp;over his career. His new salary at PSG is a cut from what he would have made if he could have stayed at Barça but keeps him the sport’s highest-paid player on the pitch, along with Neymar, with who he reunites in Paris after being teammates in the Catalan capital from 2013 to 2017.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/3-1024x576.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52591" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/3-1024x576.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/3-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/3-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/3-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/3-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div>



Neymar traded playing in Messi’s shadow in Barcelona for PSG in 2017, with a record $263 million transfer fee, and helped take the club to its first Champions League final last year. This May, the 29-year-old signed a four-year contract extension to stay in the French capital until 2025 and remain among the highest-paid on the team. He then helped the club court Messi, which led to their eventual reunion. After an early exit of his contract with Nike over a reported assault allegation from a Swoosh employee, Neymar signed a shoe deal with Puma that has celebrated his flashy style. This March, he debuted a “creativity collection” of shoes and apparel in loud color schemes. Last November, the social media sensation—he is the third-most-popular athlete on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with 284 million followers—left TikTok and signed a deal to make video content exclusively as an ambassador for Triller.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2-1024x576.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52589" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2-1024x576.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div>



This past spring, the 22-year-old Frenchman turned down a contract extension with PSG that would have given him a bump to put him on par with Neymar’s pay and kept him with the club until 2024. The 2021-22 season is the last on his current contract. PSG hopes signing Messi is incentive for the Ligue 1 three-time Golden Boot winner to negotiate to stay, but it may be time for him to venture beyond and claim the bright spotlight that is rightfully his to inherit. Mbappe has amassed more career goals than either Ronaldo or Messi had at his age. He is also making more than they were at his age, too, in part because commercial sponsors have recognized his potential earlier on. Last year, EA Sports gave him the solo cover of&nbsp;FIFA 21, making him one of the youngest to ever do so. This year, it announced he will be back as the face of&nbsp;FIFA 22, making him the first since Cristiano Ronaldo to get back-to-back covers.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/4-1024x576.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52592" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/4-1024x576.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/4-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/4-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/4-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/4-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div>



With two years remaining on the 29-year-old’s current deal, Salah and Liverpool are in negotiations to keep the star striker at Anfield. He’s proven a legend on and off the pitch. Since joining from Roma in Italy in 2017, he has been among both Liverpool and the Premier League’s top goal scorers. Last October, he scored his 100th for his club, becoming the fastest to do so in its history. No other Premier League player has scored more over the same time. He has also become the face of Muslim athletes in the game, and an important one at that. A recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/can-exposure-to-celebrities-reduce-prejudice-the-effect-of-mohamed-salah-on-islamophobic-behaviors-and-attitudes/A1DA34F9F5BCE905850AC8FBAC78BE58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">academic study</a>&nbsp;found that after Salah joined Liverpool, hate crimes in the city dropped by 16%, and Liverpool fans halved their rates of posting anti-Muslim tweets relative to fans of other top-flight clubs.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2560" height="1440" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/6-1024x576.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52594" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/6-1024x576.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/6-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/6-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/6-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/6-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /><figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div>



The 33-year-old’s contract expires in 2023, and his performance as back-to-back German player of the year is prompting rumors of suitors. The last time he failed to score for Bayern was in February; he is currently on a 19-game scoring run and this month became the first Bundesliga player to score in 13 straight home matches. He is making a run at the title of best player in the world—not only on the pitch but also off it: He has launched his RL9 brand of clothing, adding to his endorsement earnings from Nike, Huawei and Head &amp; Shoulders, among others.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/7-1024x576.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52595" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/7-1024x576.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/7-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/7-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/7-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/7-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div>



Iniesta moved to Japan on a two-year contract with Vissel Kobe in 2018 after a 22-year career with Barcelona came to an end. The midfielder has since helped the club win the Emperor’s Cup in 2019, qualify for the AFC Champions League for the first time and win the Japanese Super Cup in February 2020. This past April, on his 37th birthday, he signed a contract extension to keep him with the club until 2023.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/8-1024x576.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52596" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/8-1024x576.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/8-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/8-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/8-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/8-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div>



Ten months ago, Pogba’s future at United was uncertain. But since the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo and his French international teammate Raphael Varane, reports suggest he is leaning toward signing a contract extension. The 28-year-old is in the middle of a ten-year shoe contract with Adidas that is worth an estimated $45 million.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-1024x576.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52597" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-1024x576.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div>



After clashing with his manager Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, Bale was sent on loan to Tottenham last season. Zidane’s resignation at the end of the 2020-21 season after the club failed to win one trophy paved the way for the 32-year-old to return to the Bernabeu for the last season on his current contract. Since proudly displaying a banner that read: “Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order.” after his country qualified for Euro 2020, Bale has been linked to a post-soccer career on the links. He has been endorsing TaylorMade since 2020, even taking part in a full-day fitting on YouTube with the golf-club maker.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/10-1024x576.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52598" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/10-1024x576.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/10-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/10-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/10-1536x864.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/10-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div>



In 2019, Real Madrid paid Chelsea $118 million to sign Hazard to a five-year contract that puts him on par with Gareth Bale with a $26 million annual paycheck. But the Belgian international has struggled, missing 59 games in his first two seasons with the club. Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti recently questioned his ability to play in two successive games. There is a growing rumble in the media that the club is trying to unload him, as soon as January. Off the pitch, Hazard is the poster boy for McDonald’s in his native Belgium and has deals with Nike and Nissan.



By&nbsp;Christina Settimi, FORBES STAFF

soccor final

The World’s Highest-Paid Soccer Players 2021: Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo Reclaims Top Spot From PSG’s Lionel Messi

Less than a month after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2021/08/10/lionel-messis-deal-with-paris-saint-germain-will-keep-him-among-soccers-top-three-earners/">Lionel Messi’s blockbuster exit</a>&nbsp;from FC Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo is shaking up the soccer world with a move of his own.



The 36-year-old star has agreed to join Manchester United, which will pay Juventus around $40 million, depending on performance, to facilitate its new striker’s release, sources tell&nbsp;Forbes. Terms of Ronaldo’s new contract have not been disclosed, although sources familiar with the contract have said that some details are still being finalized and that, pending a physical, Ronaldo is set to sign on for the next two seasons.



Ronaldo is one of the most financially successful athletes in history. Last year, his annual earnings of $105 million made him the first soccer player&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2020/06/04/ronaldos-105-million-year-tops-messi-and-crowns-him-soccers-first-billion-dollar-man/">to earn $1 billion</a>&nbsp;(before taxes), according to&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;estimates. Messi followed him just a few months later, and the two rivals remain the sport’s only players to have reached that milestone.



This year, Ronaldo ranked as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/athletes/">third-highest-paid athlete in the world</a>, behind Conor McGregor and Messi, with earnings of $120 million—$70 million of that made on the pitch and $50 million from endorsements. In addition to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2016/12/02/cristiano-ronaldos-1-billion-nike-deal-is-a-bargain-for-sportswear-giant/">lifetime deal</a>&nbsp;with Nike, his sponsors include DAZN, Herbalife, MTG and Unilever.



<h1 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ronaldo-s-riches">Ronaldo&#8217;s Riches</h1>



Cristiano Ronaldo has earned more than $100 million annually in each of his last four appearances on Forbes&#8217; list of the world&#8217;s highest-paid athletes. He was No. 1 in 2017.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="387" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Screenshot-2021-08-31-at-12.42.33-1024x387.png" alt="" class="wp-image-52355" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Screenshot-2021-08-31-at-12.42.33-1024x387.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Screenshot-2021-08-31-at-12.42.33-300x113.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Screenshot-2021-08-31-at-12.42.33-768x290.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Screenshot-2021-08-31-at-12.42.33.png 1472w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>



While the news is groundbreaking, it’s by no means unexpected. Reports have recently circulated that Juventus was eager to unload Ronaldo’s contract. ESPN reported in June that his representatives were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/4401924/cristiano-ronaldo-checking-transfer-interest-despite-juventus-talks-sources" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">checking in with other clubs</a>&nbsp;on potential fits, and this week, multiple outlets posited that Manchester City had been angling to sign Ronaldo. Man City struck out in its quest to land Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur earlier this summer.



It’s a return to familiar territory for Ronaldo, who played for Manchester United from 2003 to 2009, winning three Premier League titles and the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League final. During his career, Ronaldo has scored 783 <a href="https://www.theweek.co.uk/messi-vs-ronaldo-all-time-goals-career-statistics-red-cards" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">total senior team goals</a> during domestic, cup, continental and international matches, <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/blog-the-toe-poke/story/4295456/is-cristiano-ronaldo-soccers-all-time-top-scorer-or-is-it-pele-josef-bican-we-may-never-know-for-sure" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more than any player in the history of the sport</a>, including Pelé (although challenges to official scoring rules dispute this record). That figure <a href="https://fbref.com/en/players/dea698d9/Cristiano-Ronaldo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">includes</a> 479 goals in domestic league matches and 109 goals while playing for Portugal <a href="https://www.transfermarkt.us/cristiano-ronaldo/nationalmannschaft/spieler/8198" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on the international stage</a>. 



By Justin Birnbaum, Forbes Staff



By Christina Settimi, Forbes Staff

Portugal’s football team training session

Cristiano Ronaldo Returns To Manchester, Bringing Career Earnings Of More Than $1 Billion To United

FC Barcelona v Gimnastic de Tarragona – Pre-Season Friendly

The World’s Highest-Paid Soccer Players 2020: Messi Wins, Mbappe Rises

After a disappointing season, the soccer superstar is eyeing the exit at Barcelona, but he still is on pace to reach that astronomical goal alongside Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather and, yes, Cristiano Ronaldo.



The only move Lionel Messi really needs to make to become soccer’s next billion-dollar man is none at all. If the star forward simply shows up at Barcelona’s Camp Nou in September, he will end the 2020–21 season with more than $1 billion in career earnings, a victory only three athletes before him have won.



It looks like the high-fives may have to wait. After a yearlong battle with FC Barcelona, the Argentine icon is threatening to leave the club after 16 years, ditching the final year of a contract that could make&nbsp;him the highest-paid player in what has become the world’s most lucrative sport.&nbsp;



“Globalization has made soccer, always the world&#8217;s most popular sport, also the world’s most lucrative in terms of revenue generation,” says Stefan Szymanski, author of&nbsp;Soccernomics&nbsp;and a University of Michigan professor of sport management. “In soccer, there is more or less unfettered competition on a global scale—there are no drafts, salary caps, etc.—and the best players generally go to the highest bidder.”



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="594" height="396" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/gettyimages-1167251285-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45803" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/gettyimages-1167251285-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/gettyimages-1167251285-594x594-1-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



It’s the kind of free-market economics that until this year were the domain of independent contractors.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/2009/09/29/tiger-woods-billion-business-sports-tiger.html">Tiger Woods</a>&nbsp;was the first athlete to earn $1 billion while still competing when in 2009 he sunk $10.5 million in prize money and more than $100 million off the links, mostly through an endorsement deal with Nike.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/08/26/how-floyd-mayweather-became-boxings-1-billion-man/">Floyd Mayweather</a>&nbsp;landed the honor in 2017 after a bet on himself that removed legendary promoter Bob Arum from his corner and led to a string of self-produced pay-per-view bouts that brought in more than $25 million 12 times, including $275 million for his 2017 fight with Conor McGregor. Messi’s longtime rival&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2020/06/04/ronaldos-105-million-year-tops-messi-and-crowns-him-soccers-first-billion-dollar-man/">Cristiano Ronaldo</a>&nbsp;became the first team-sport competitor to do it when he earned $105 million during the 2019-20 season.&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2014/06/12/michael-jordan-is-a-billionaire-after-increasing-stake-in-hornets/">Michael Jordan</a>, who tallied $550 million in career earnings during his 15 years playing for the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards, remains the world’s only billionaire athlete, the bulk of his fortune created by a well-timed investment in the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.



Messi’s arrival in the billion-dollar clubhouse will mark a climactic chapter in what has been soccer’s most expensive sideshow since 2009, when he and Ronaldo&nbsp;first faced off on competing teams in Spain’s La Liga. The strutting and often shirtless Ronaldo&nbsp;perfected the sport’s showman brand while the media-shy Messi was hailed as the modest one, more interested in his footwork than footwear, as prolific a goal scorer as a wingman and a master at crediting teamwork.



Ronaldo, who is two years older, has become the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/08/03/social-medias-most-valuable-athletes-ronaldo-mcgregor-and-lebron-score/">world’s most popular celebrity</a>, with 443 million social followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter—and the most marketable athlete in the world, too. According to Hookit, which tracks social media sponsorship value, from January to July this year, he created $28 million in value for the brands he promoted through 275 social media posts and the 873 million engagements with them. He has a lifetime deal with Nike and a long-term partnership with Herbalife, as well as a lifestyle brand that started with his CR7 line of underwear in 2013 and has expanded to include shoes, perfume, denim, hotels, gyms and his latest offering introduced this month,&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://robbreport.com/style/accessories/cristiano-ronaldo-sunglasses-cr7-eyewear-2941551/" target="_blank">sunglasses</a>. Last season, Ronaldo earned $45 million of his $105 million off the pitch.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="594" height="396" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/gettyimages-1142682752-594x594.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40860" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/gettyimages-1142682752-594x594.jpg 594w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/gettyimages-1142682752-594x594-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Messi is no endorsement slouch either, earning about $33 million annually through endorsement deals with lifetime partner Adidas, Lays, Mastercard, watchmaker Jacob &amp; Co, Qatar-based telecom Ooredoo and his new signature lifestyle brand launched last year with Ginny Hilfiger, sister of Tommy, at The Messi Store website. Hookit reports that from January to July this year, Messi put up 117 social media posts that received 235 million likes, comments or shares, creating $22 million in marketing value for the brands he promoted.



Barcelona is planning to pay its star forward $92 million this upcoming season, about a third of that in the form of performance incentives. Messi has been consistent earning those, posting 12 consecutive seasons with at least 31 goals and hitting 700 career goals in June, joining Ronaldo as the only active player at that level.



Until last week, soccer watchers were expecting the Argentine icon to sign a new&nbsp;deal on par with his current one to take him through retirement, but that was before his battle with Barcelona boiled over. The yearlong fight included a dustup over the midseason appointment of a manager that ended with his dismissal this week, a smear campaign against Messi and his wife reportedly dialed up by the club itself, and an embarrassing 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich that put an early finish to Barça’s Champions League title hopes. It was the first season in 12 years that Messi failed to win a trophy and one for which he took&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2020/03/30/lionel-messis-coronavirus-wage-cut-could-cost-him-50-million/">a 70% cut in base pay</a>—$11 million—after the pandemic halted play for three months.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-455404136-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47209" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-455404136-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-455404136-1-scaled-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-455404136-1-scaled-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-455404136-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-455404136-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-455404136-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Where he lands—and how much he will make there—remains to be seen, although it is unlikely any club can afford to pay him the salary Barcelona can. Messi could do what Ronaldo did when he left Real Madrid&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2018/07/10/cristiano-ronaldo-takes-a-wage-cut-and-leaves-real-madrid-for-juventus/">for Italy’s Juventus</a>&nbsp;and make up for lower gross pay with a tax scheme that keeps his net pay level.



Or if Barcelona’s new manager, Ronald Koeman, can&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/53827543" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bring peace back to Barcelona</a>, he could make the whole thing happen this year after all.



“He is the best player in the world, and the best player in the world you want in your team; you don’t want him playing against you,” Koeman said at a Wednesday press conference.



No matter what Messi chooses, the billion-dollar honor is his to lose. Soccer’s No. 3 earner, Neymar, has so far earned $450 million in his career and stands to make less than $100 million this season. Neymar’s Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappé will make less than half that.



-Christina Settimi, Forbes Staff

TOPSHOT-FBL-EUR-C1-BARCELONA-NAPOLI

The Next Billion-Dollar Athlete: Lionel Messi Closes In

Add another zero to soccer’s most expensive rivalry.



Cristiano Ronaldo earned $105 million before taxes and fees in the past year, landing him at No. 4 on the 2020&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;Celebrity 100, one spot above his top rival in the sport, Lionel Messi, and making him the first soccer player in history to earn $1 billion.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The 35-year-old striker is only the third athlete to hit mark while still playing following Tiger Woods, who did it in 2009 on the back of his long term endorsement deal with Nike&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/nike" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NKE</a>, and Floyd Mayweather in 2017, who’s made most of his income from a cut of pay-per-view sales for his boxing matches.&nbsp;



Ronaldo, the first to do it in a team sport, has made $650 million during his 17 years on the pitch, and is expected to reach $765 million in career salary after his current contract ends in June 2022. Messi, who began playing at the senior level three years after Ronaldo, has earned a total of $605 million in salary since 2005. The only team athlete to even come within striking distance of those figures was former New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, who retired in 2016 after 22 years in MLB having earned $450 million in salary. Not even soccer legend David Beckham came close, ending his career with total earnings of $500 million, half of which came from off-pitch endorsements. 



“Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players of all time, in the world&#8217;s most popular sport, in an era when football has never been so rich,” said Sporting Intelligence’s Nick Harris, whose Global Sports Salaries Survey ranks teams worldwide based on total salary expense. “He&#8217;s box office.&#8221;



Ronaldo and Messi’s head-to-heads heated up in Spain’s La Liga in 2009, where Ronaldo played for Real Madrid and Messi for Barcelona. Their faceoffs on the pitch ignited a nine-year battle for bragging rights as the best — and top-paid — in the sport, a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2019/06/18/the-worlds-highest-paid-soccer-players-2019-messi-ronaldo-and-neymar-dominate-the-sporting-world/#2f9e5b76b55e">highly personal</a> tit-for-tat that had them re-negotiating contracts in lockstep and monopolizing the game’s highlight reel. 



The rivalry was as entertaining as it was profitable, coming just as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2019/05/29/the-worlds-most-valuable-soccer-teams-2019/#1a0fa8ff40d6">clubs around the world</a>&nbsp;were seeing soaring attendance and an influx of television money. The two were perfectly matched for battle, on and off the pitch: Ronaldo perfected a shirtless, stylized showmanship while Messi played the quiet game, always a tad unkempt and as prolific a scorer as he was a wingman. Ronaldo strutted after every goal. Messi was a master at thanking his teammates.&nbsp;



Both backed it up. Barcelona won the La Liga title six times and two Champions Leagues trophies with Messi on the squad. Real Madrid won the Spanish title twice and the Champions League four times with Ronaldo. During their years in the league, each player nabbed four Ballon d’Ors (soccer’s MVP) and their El Classicos, the nickname for their clubs fierce clashes, were record-setting television events worldwide.&nbsp;



But when it came to leveraging celebrity, it has been no contest. Guided by Jorge Mendes of Gestifute, one of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbelzer/2019/10/21/most-powerful-sports-agents/#1cc52df93b27">world’s most powerful agents</a>, Ronaldo has amassed an ever-growing following of fans and consumers drawn to his poster-boy good looks, trend-setting hair styles, impeccable fashion sense and, lately, his softer side as a family man whose toddlers pop up on his social media posts. In January he became the first person with 200 million followers on Instagram, part of a social media army of 427 million across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that makes him the most popular athlete on the planet.&nbsp;



Nike pays him upwards of $20 million annually and signed him to a lifetime deal in 2016, making him just the third athlete after Michael Jordan and LeBron James hitched to the Swoosh for eternity. In May, the footwear maker announced the release of a 10-year anniversary edition of his first signature Mercurial Superfly and a child’s version to celebrate his son’s 10th birthday, complete with his famous celebration stance, signature and logo. Pitches for Clear shampoo, Herbalife <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/herbalife" target="_blank">HLF</a>, and pharmaceutical maker Abbott help raise his endorsement tally to $45 million.



Ronaldo, Inc. even has a trademark — CR7, a mix of his initials and jersey number — part of a lifestyle brand that&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;estimates accounts for a quarter of his annual endorsement income, including branded underwear that debuted in 2013 that was followed by a line of shoes, fragrances and denim wear. He partnered with Pestana Hotel Group in 2015 to open his first property a year later in his hometown of Funchal, Madeira, right above Museu CR7, a shrine for his trophies and a retail outlet for his merchandise. He’s since added CR7 clubs with Crunch Fitness, posts workout routines on YouTube and has attached his name to a social media influencing degree offered by Italian online university eCampus.



And the rivalry is far from done.



Ronaldo’s 2020 earnings include a salary of $60 million, slightly less than last year due to a 30% pay cut he agreed to take this April as a result of the pandemic. Messi, who earned $104 million in the past year after taking a 70% pay cut while coronavirus sidelined play, is poised to surpass $1 billion in all-time earnings as soon as next year, before his current Barca contract ends.



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/">Christina Settimi</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sportsmoney">SportsMoney</a>

gettyimages-1167251285-594×594

Ronaldo’s $105 Million Year Tops Messi And Crowns Him Soccer’s First Billion-Dollar Man

Major League Baseball had a staggering run this year when, over a four-week period, a quartet of its biggest stars—Nolan Arenado, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Mike Trout—signed blockbuster, long-term deals&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/04/01/baseballs-highest-paid-players-2019-mike-trout-leads-with-39-million/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">worth a combined $1.3 billion</a>. They ranked as four of the biggest playing contracts in the history of sports.



The deals will create generational wealth for their families, but only Trout, ranked 17th with $50.6 million, cracks the top 20 of the&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.forbes.com/athletes/" target="_blank">world’s highest-paid athletes</a>. 



The difference: Those four baseball stars generate barely $10 million in combined endorsement income while the top earners in basketball, soccer, tennis and golf all individually bank at least $30 million from sponsors annually; eight of the 11 best-paid athletes come from those four sports.



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Lionel Messi Claims Top Spot on Forbes’ 2019 List Of The World’s 100 Highest-Paid Athletes (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2019/06/11/lionel-messi-claims-top-spot-on-forbes-2019-list-of-the-worlds-100-highest-paid-athletes/" target="_blank">Lionel Messi Claims Top Spot on Forbes’ 2019 List Of The World’s 100 Highest-Paid Athletes</a>



Most of the athletes ranked above Trout follow a similar path: Reach the highest levels of a global sport, and marketers swarm with endorsement deals to pitch their wares around the world.



 Barcelona soccer legend Lionel Messi leads the way on this year&#8217;s list with $127 million, including $35 million off the pitch from partners Adidas, MasterCard, PepsiCo and more. Messi translates into every language.



Messi is only the fourth athlete to land in the No. 1 spot over the past 19 years, joining Tiger Woods (12 times), Floyd Mayweather (4) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2). 



Messi succeeds Mayweather, who failed to get in the ring for a pro bout over the past 12 months but is likely still counting last year&#8217;s&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2018/06/13/full-list-the-worlds-highest-paid-athletes-2018/" target="_blank">$285 million haul</a>, which he earned largely from his 2017 bout against UFC star Conor McGregor.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="The World's Highest-Paid Athletes (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbes.com/athletes/#447d3f055ae5" target="_blank">The World&#8217;s Highest-Paid Athletes</a></h4>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



Messi is joined by fellow global soccer icons Cristiano Ronaldo ($109 million) and Neymar ($105 million) at the top this year. It is the first time that soccer players have ranked as the top three earners in sports since Forbes began tracking athlete earnings in 1990.



Elite stars in other global sports are also extremely marketable on any continent. Roger Federer ranks fifth with $93.4 million, including $86 million off the court. 



Federer will turn 38 in August and is a dinosaur in tennis years. Yet Japanese apparel brand Uniqlo signed the 20-time Grand Slam winner in 2018 to a&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2018/07/02/roger-federers-uniqlo-deal-pushes-his-endorsement-earnings-to-the-worlds-highest/" target="_blank">10-year contract worth $300 million</a>. Federer has a dozen sponsors looking to tap the cash-rich tennis fan demographic.



Basketball&#8217;s leading trio of LeBron James ($89 million), Stephen Curry ($79.8 million) and Kevin Durant ($65.4 million) rank seventh through ninth, having earned a combined $130 million beyond their respective playing salaries. 



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="The NBA’s Highest-Paid Players 2019: LeBron James Leads With $89 Million (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/lists/2019/02/13/the-nbas-highest-paid-players-2019-lebron-james-leads-with-89-million/" target="_blank">The NBA’s Highest-Paid Players 2019: LeBron James Leads With $89 Million</a>



Their shoe deals, with Nike (James, Durant) and Under Armour (Curry), are by far the biggest endorsement for each player and dwarf what an MLB player can earn pitching baseball cleats and gear.



Sportswear brands, including Adidas, have used NBA stars in China for more than a decade to help establish a foothold in the world&#8217;s biggest market, sending big names like James and Durant there every summer on promotional tours. The NBA estimates&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/shlomosprung/2019/03/04/nba-china-ceo-derek-chang-takes-us-inside-nbas-push-to-make-basketball-worlds-most-popular-sport/#63a2ef0151b0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">640 million people</a>&nbsp;in China watched some kind of NBA programming during the 2017-18 season—that&#8217;s nearly twice the population of the U.S.



Golf is another sport that reaches almost every corner of the globe, and no golfer has benefited more than Tiger Woods: He has made $1.4 billion during his career from endorsements and appearance fees, more than 10 times his prize money, and his net worth is a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2018/12/18/tiger-woods-net-worth-800-million-in-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">staggering $800 million</a>. Woods ranks 11th on this year&#8217;s athletes list with earnings of $63.9 million, including $54 million off the course.



Tiger roared back over the past 12 months with his first win in five years (Tour Championship) and his first major title in 11 years (The Masters). Last year, he signed an exclusive multi-year global content partnership with Discovery&#8217;s GolfTV. Head-to-head matches are part of the deal, and most will take place outside the U.S.



The 100 highest-paid athletes earned a combined $4 billion over the past 12 months, up 5% over the previous year. The increase jumps to 16% if you strip out the one-time stimulus of the 2017 Mayweather-McGregor fight. Endorsements fueled much of the gains, with sponsor-driven income at $987 million, up 12% from the previous year.



Overall, athletes from 10 sports and 25 countries made the top 100. Basketball (35 athletes) is the most dominant sport, and Americans (62) are the most dominant nationality.



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Inside Serena Williams’ Plan To Ace Venture Investing (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2019/06/05/inside-serena-williams-plan-to-ace-venture-investing/" target="_blank">Inside Serena Williams’ Plan To Ace Venture Investing</a>



Tennis ace Serena Williams ranked 63rd with $29.2 million, including $25 million off the court. She is the only woman to crack the top 100 for the second time in three years.&nbsp;



<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2018/06/07/why-no-women-ranked-among-the-worlds-100-highest-paid-athletes/" target="_blank">No female athletes qualified last year</a>, when Williams was just returning to tennis after a 12-month layoff for her pregnancy and the birth of her daughter, Olympia. Williams is lining up her next act with a new clothing line and&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/06/03/inside-serena-williams-plan-to-ace-venture-investing/" target="_blank">a venture capital fund</a>focused on investing in female and minority founders.



Our earnings include prize money, salaries and bonuses earned between June 1, 2018, and June 1, 2019. Endorsement incomes are an estimate of sponsorships, appearance fees and licensing incomes for the same 12-month period (click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/06/11/behind-the-numbers-of-the-top-earning-athletes-2019/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>&nbsp;for a more detailed methodology and the numbers behind the top 100).



-Kurt Badenhausen; Forbes Staff

gettyimages-1142682752-594×594

World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2019: What Messi, LeBron And Tiger Make

The NBA is flush with cash right now thanks to its $24 billion TV deal with ESPN and TNT, as well as its global opportunities. Players are sharing in the riches, with 29 current NBAers in the middle of contracts worth at least $94 million in deals that range from three years in the case of LeBron James to five years for most of the 28 others, according to <a href="http://www.spotrac.com/nba/rankings/contract-value/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data from Spotrac</a>. The significance of $94 million: It is more than the career earnings from playing salary of the sport&#8217;s greatest player, Michael Jordan, who earned $93.8 million with the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards.
But don&#8217;t shed a tear for MJ. Sure, he made more than $4 million during only two of his 15 seasons in the NBA (Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf also paid Jordan his $4 million salary during the full season he took off to play baseball). Yet Jordan elevated athlete endorsements to an entirely new level, which has continued long after he hung up his high-tops for good in 2003. The result: Jordan is the highest-paid athlete of all time at $1.85 billion in 2017 dollars (the tally is $1.5 billion in current dollars).
Jordan has partnered with dozens of brands since he turned pro in 1984, including Gatorade, Hanes, MCI, Oakley, Upper Deck, Wheaties and more. His biggest backer has always been Nike, which signed Jordan ahead of his rookie year to a five-year deal worth $2.5 million, plus royalties. The Jordan Brand exploded for Nike and is now a $3.1 billion global business with revenue up 13% over last year and $800 million from two years ago. Jordan&#8217;s estimated cut of the business is $140 million this year.
Jordan showed the path to a fortune built on endorsement earnings that has since been followed by Tiger Woods, who ranks second at $1.7 billion. Like Jordan, Woods reached the pinnacle of his sport while shying away from any controversy, making him a marketing darling for sponsors like Accenture, American Express, EA Sports, General Motors and Nike.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2017/08/15/serena-williams-heads-highest-paid-female-athletes-2017/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Serena Williams Heads The Highest-Paid Female Athletes 2017</a>
Woods banked $600 million (adjusted for inflation) between 2006 and 2010, with endorsements and appearance fees fueling most of the earnings. The image of Woods as the perfect pitchman came crashing down on a Thanksgiving night eight years ago, but he remains the top draw in golf when healthy. His earnings are off 68% from their peak but still rank among the highest in golf.
Forbes&#8216; earnings estimates include salaries, bonuses, prize money, endorsements and licensing, as well as fees from books, golf course designs and appearances. Earnings cover from the time the athletes turned pro through June 1, 2017, and include money earned after playing careers were over, as well as earnings by the estate in the case of Arnold Palmer. We do not include investment income, and we back-filled years where we did not publish earnings figures, such as prior to 1990 for Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. We adjusted all figures for inflation.
The 25 highest-paid athletes of all time played a mix of eight sports, with golf, basketball and boxing landing five entries each. The top 25 have earned a cumulative $19.4 billion since turning pro ($15.9 billion without adjusting for inflation).
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2017/06/09/ronaldo-lebron-top-worlds-highest-paid-athletes-2017/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Ronaldo, Le Bron Top World&#8217;s Highest-Paid Athletes Of 2017 </a>
From branding it like Beckham to the Golden Bear’s Midas touch, these sports legends are so money when it comes to career earnings and endorsement deals.
<h3>The Highest-Paid Athletes of All-Time</h3>
1. Michael Jordan
Career earnings: $1.85 billion (2017 dollars)
Jordan still maintains his longtime endorsement relationships with Gatorade, Hanes, Nike and Upper Deck, but the investment that made him a billionaire was the $175 million fire-sale price he got the Charlotte Bobcats (now the Hornets) for in 2010. Jordan bumped his Hornets stake to 90% in 2013, and the team is now worth $780 million.
2. Tiger Woods
<div id="attachment_34818" style="width: 415px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34818" class=" wp-image-34818" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Tiger-Woods-e1513240484211-300x180.jpg" alt="Tiger Woods" width="405" height="243" />Tiger Woods during the Hero World Challenge at Albany, Bahamas in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)</div>
Career earnings: $1.7 billion
The 14-time major winner has played only 18 official PGA Tour events since the start of 2014 because of injuries (he&#8217;s missed the cut or withdrawn from half of them). Sponsors still see value in partnering with Woods, with TaylorMade, Bridgestone and Monster Energy the most recent additions to his endorsement portfolio.
3. Arnold Palmer
Career earnings: $1.4 billion
Palmer died in September 2016, but his estate still <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/10/30/how-arnold-palmer-still-earns-40-million-annually-after-his-death/#4e4005850ffa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banked $40 million</a> during the last 12 months. More than 400 stores sell Arnold Palmer-branded apparel in Asia, with plans to move into new markets like Thailand and Vietnam. His estate has agreements with 39 licensees. The partnership between IMG founder Mark McCormack and his first client, Palmer, revolutionized sports marketing.
4. Jack Nicklaus
Career earnings: $1.2 billion
Nicklaus&#8217; course design company is responsible for 410 courses in 41 countries, with the 18-time major winner involved in three-quarters of the projects. In addition to course design, the Nicklaus business empire includes real estate, wine, ice cream, drinkware, golf academies, lemonade and more.
5. Michael Schumacher
Career earnings: $1 billion
The health of Schumacher, 47, has been precarious since a 2013 skiing accident in the Alps left him in a coma. The F1 titan dominated his sport while racking up seven titles and is one of only six athletes to top the FORBES highest-paid athletes list since 1990.
6. Phil Mickelson
Career earnings: $815 million
Mickelson pitches for Amgen, ExxonMobil, KPMG, Rolex, Grayhawk and the Greenbrier, as well as two new partners in Intrepid Financial Partners and Workday. His $84 million in career prize money ranks second all-time. Coming in second to Tiger has been plenty lucrative for Lefty, who finally outearned his rival in 2015, for the first time since Woods turned pro in 1996.
7. (tie) Kobe Bryant
Career earnings: $800 million
Bryant&#8217;s earnings during his playing career were <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2015/11/30/kobe-bryant-will-retire-with-record-680-million-in-career-earnings/#3cfbd75c217c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tops all time among team athletes</a>, and he had the highest NBA salary the final six seasons of his career. The Black Mamba is attacking retirement the way he did opposing guards during his 20-year NBA career. He launched Kobe Inc. and a venture capital firm, Bryant Stibel, with $100 million in funding.
7. (tie) David Beckham
Career earnings: $800 million
Beckham&#8217;s most lucrative years have come in retirement thanks to royalty deals with Diageo, to launch a new single-grain Scotch whisky called Haig Club, and Global Brands Group, to create Beckham-branded consumer products. Beckham is inching closer to bringing an MLS expansion team to Miami, which he got the rights to at the bargain-basement price of $25 million.
9. Floyd Mayweather
<div id="attachment_32912" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32912" class=" wp-image-32912" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Mayweather-v-McGregor-e1500973503764-300x219.jpg" alt="Floyd Mayweather Jr. v Conor McGregor" width="400" height="292" />Dana White splits Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor apart during the World Press Tour at SSE Arena on July 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)</div>
Career earnings: $785 million
Our earnings figure for Mayweather does not include his monster payday for his August bout against Conor McGregor (our scoring period ended June 1). His McGregor paycheck makes Mayweather just the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/08/26/how-floyd-mayweather-became-boxings-1-billion-man/#76042d3f7d5a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sixth athlete ever</a> with earnings of $1 billion.
10. Shaquille O&#8217;Neal
Career earnings: $735 million
O&#8217;Neal sold a stake in the business of Shaq last year to Authentic Brands Group, which got the rights to roughly half of O&#8217;Neal&#8217;s future licensing and endorsement revenue in return for a lump sum payment. Shaq’s low-cost sneaker line has sold more than 120 million pairs during his career.
11. LeBron James
Career earnings: $730 million
The NBA&#8217;s top pitchman added Intel and Verizon this year to his endorsement portfolio, which already included Nike, Coca-Cola, Beats by Dre and Kia Motor. King James owns a stake in 17 Blaze Pizzas, the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/07/11/lebron-james-backed-blaze-pizza-is-fastest-growing-restaurant-chain-ever/#4ba2258152b2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fastest-growing food-service business</a> of all-time.
12. Cristiano Ronaldo
<div id="attachment_34819" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34819" class=" wp-image-34819" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cristiano-Ronaldo-e1513240861323-300x199.jpg" alt="Cristiano Ronaldo" width="401" height="266" />Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid during the La Liga match against Sevilla at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Power Sport Images/Getty Images)</div>
Career earnings: $725 million
Ronaldo is rising up the charts as the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/06/07/ronaldo-lebron-top-the-worlds-highest-paid-athletes-of-2017/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highest-paid athlete</a> in the world the past two years, including $93 million in the 12 months ending in June. His <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2016/11/07/worlds-highest-paid-athlete-cristiano-ronaldo-signs-new-real-madrid-contract/#7c9525b2688f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Real Madrid contract extension</a> will push the earnings for soccer&#8217;s reigning player of the year even higher.
13. Greg Norman
Career earnings: $705 million
Like Shaquille O&#8217;Neal and Muhammad Ali before him, Norman sold his future licensing rights to Authentic Brands Group in March. Norman&#8217;s company retains control of his real estate, investments and course design operations, but ABG will work on his other business interests in apparel, accessories, steak and wine.
14. Mike Tyson
Career earnings: $700 million
The youngest heavyweight champion in the history of boxing squandered $400 million in earnings (not adjusted for inflation) before filing for bankruptcy in 2003. Tyson has reinvented himself at 51 as an actor and with business partnerships around gaming, motorcycles and fitness centers.
15. Roger Federer
<div id="attachment_34820" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34820" class=" wp-image-34820" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Roger-Federer-e1513241162828-300x207.jpg" alt="Roger Federer" width="400" height="276" />Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after beating Marin Cilic of Croatia during the ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 Arena, London. (Photo by Kieran Galvin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)</div>
Career earnings: $675 million
Federer recently re-took the crown for highest career prize money on the ATP Tour with his resurgent year on the court in 2017. His $111.9 million tally surpasses the total of Novak Djokovic ($109.8 million), as well as that of Tiger Woods, who sits at $110 million in prize money on the PGA Tour.
16. Lionel Messi
Career earnings: $600 million
Messi has been at Barcelona since age 13, and his contract extension last month will keep him at Camp Nou through the 2020-21 season. The buyout clause for Barcelona&#8217;s all-time leading scorer doubled under the new deal to $835 million.
17. Alex Rodriguez
Career earnings: $575 million
A-Rod signed two of the three biggest contracts in the history of baseball during his 22-year career and was paid $20 million by the Yankees in 2017 despite retiring last year. He has been busy in retirement as a Fox Sports analyst and a host for an upcoming CNBC reality show, in addition to his high-profile relationship with Jennifer Lopez.
18. Jeff Gordon
Career earnings: $525 million
Gordon won 93 races during his Nascar career, the modern-day record. He owns a stake in Jimmie Johnson&#8217;s No. 48 car and could be in line for a larger ownership role at Hendrick Motorsports.
19. Oscar De La Hoya
Career earnings: $520 million
The Golden Boy&#8217;s 2007 fight with Floyd Mayweather was the biggest bout in pay-per-view history, with 2.5 million buys, until Mayweather faced Manny Pacquiao. De La Hoya earned a then-record $52 million because he served as the fight&#8217;s promoter through his company Golden Boy Promotions, which he founded in 2002.
20. Manny Pacquiao
Career earnings: $510 million
Pacquiao&#8217;s pay-per-view career includes 18.6 million buys and gross revenue of $1.2 billion. The Filipino senator lost to Australian Jeff Horn in his only 2017 bout. Pacquiao&#8217;s biggest career payday was his 2015 fight with Mayweather, for which he pocketed roughly $125 million.
21. Derek Jeter
Career earnings: $490 million
Jeter&#8217;s tenure as an MLB owner is off to a rocky start in South Florida. The 14-time All-Star put up only $25 million of the $1.2 billion price for the Miami Marlins, but Jeter is calling the shots as CEO of the team.
22. (tie) Peyton Manning
Career earnings: $480 million
The five-time MVP retired as the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards (71,490) and touchdowns (539) and was the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2016/03/07/peyton-manning-retires-with-record-400-million-in-career-earnings/#7c60b345488f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NFL record-holder for earnings</a> on and off the field. Manning remains a popular pitchman in retirement, shilling for Nationwide, DirecTV, Gatorade, Papa John&#8217;s and Otterbox. He also hosted the 2017 ESPYs.
22. (tie) Kevin Garnett
Career earnings: $480 million
Garnett earned an NBA-record $334 million in playing salary during his 22-year playing career with the Timberwolves, the Celtics and the Nets. His blockbuster six-year, $126 million contract as a 21-year-old in 1997 helped push NBA owners to lock out the players ahead of the 1998-99 season.
24. Evander Holyfield
Career earnings: $475 million
Holyfield&#8217;s career-high payday was $34 million, for his second fight versus Mike Tyson, which ended abruptly when Tyson was disqualified for biting off a chunk of Holyfield&#8217;s ear. Despite a quarter-century of boxing purses, Holyfield faced major financial issues with a foreclosure of his $10 million, 109-room Atlanta estate and lawsuits for unpaid child support.
25. Andre Agassi
Career earnings: $470 million
Agassi&#8217;s massive Nike endorsement deal earned him $140 million over 10 years, including the appreciation of the company stock he received in the pact.
&#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Kurt Badenhausen</a>, FORBES STAFF

Tag: Cristiano Ronaldo