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1) Floyd Mayweather – $300 million
(Image credit: The Guardian)
2015 was the best year for the undefeated boxer in his blistering career, as he notched a jaw-dropping $300 million in combined earnings. According to Forbes, Money Mayweather, as he’s often referred to, received $285 million in prize money while $15 million came by way of sponsorship deals, which made him the highest paid athlete for 2015. The vast junk of that money came from his match against Manny Pacquiao in the fight dubbed “The Fight of the Century,” for which he got awarded close to $200 million. Later, in September he went into the ring for one final time against Andre Berto before hanging up his gloves for good. He successfully defended his title, which essentially brought his total earnings for the year around the $300 million.
2) Manny Pacquiao – $160 million
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Just like Mayweather, the biggest earnings came from “The Fight of the Century” which saw the Filipino receive a cool $148 million, while an additional $12 million came from endorsement deals. It’s not bad for a fighter that had only one match in the entire year. But unlike Mayweather, Pacquiao didn’t retire at the end of the 2015. Instead, he is scheduled to fight Timothy Bradley for a third time on April 9th. The numbers for 2016 probably won’t be as impressive, however he’ll still be able to pull in some big cash.
3) Cristiano Ronaldo – $79.6 million
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Ronaldo is one of the most marketable football stars in the world, so brands are all over him constantly vying to get him to endorse them. He has over 100 million Facebook likes and close to 40 million Twitter followers, which translates into mucho dinero. He made an astonishing $52.6 million from his on-field earnings, while the other $27 million came from various sponsorship agreements. Lucrative deals with Nike, Herbalife, Samsung and Clear (shampoo) among lots of others have made him into one of the highest paid athletes.
4) Lionel Messi– $73.8 million
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Messi, the man with the most golden balls to his name (five), earns slightly less than his counterpart Ronaldo. But we don’t feel too sorry for him, considering he made a staggering $73.8 million over the course of 2015. Barcelona had a very successful year, in which they won five trophies so we can imagine that they paid out big bonuses to their players. And you have to remember that he’s just 28 years of age, so he has plenty of more years to amass an even greater fortune to his name. Perhaps if he tries not to blow it all at once, he just might be able to afford some bread and butter for his family…yeah right!
5) Roger Federer – $67 million
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Year in, year out, the Swiss tennis player has been on the Forbes chart thanks to his immense marketing potential. Although he has dropped in the tennis rankings list to no. 7 in 2013, Federer still pulls in massive figures. He’s earned close to $100 million in career prize money alone, but the real money comes from endorsement deals with various companies that enabled him to become on of the highest paid athletes on the globe. He is raking in around $60 million per year through sponsorships, so his world ranking hasn’t hurt him much. In the period of five years, from 2005 to 2010, Federer managed to appear in 18 out of 19 Grand Slam finals – something that is regarded as an extraordinary feature, for all you people that don’t know the sport of tennis…
6) LeBron James – $64.8 million
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Before making his official debut in the NBA back in 2003, he signed a deal with Nike worth a staggering $90 million – BEFORE MAKING A SINGLE NBA APPEARANCE!!! After playing for Miami for four seasons, he returned home to Ohio and signed a deal with his first team, the Cavaliers. James penned a two-year deal believed to be in the region of $42 million. Many NBA insiders believe this deal to be a strategic move, as it allows James to once again become a free agent in 2016 – that’s when the new $24 billion TV deals are scheduled to kick in. This way he can make far more money in his final years, than option to sign the initially proposed and more lucrative four-year deal with the Cavaliers. No matter what his salary is, he probably won’t go hungry. Just last year he made a massive $44 million in sponsorship deals. That brings the total to $64.8 million.
7) Kevin Durant – $54.2 million
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Durant is climbing up the Frobes list of highest paid athletes unlike no other NBA star. We predict the way he’s going, he’ll soon overtake LeBron as NBA’s top earner. The Oklahoma City Thunder player made “only” $19.1 million from his official salary, while the bigger chunk of his overall pay comes from different deals. In late 2014, he agreed to wear Nike shoes for a ten-year period for a whopping $300 million. But that’s just one of his deals; Durant has tons of other agreements with companies like: Gatorade, GE and Sprint among others.
8) Phil Mickelson – $50.8 million
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Despite being 45 years of age, Mickelson is still doing pretty well for himself. Well actually…he is doing much better than the majority of the people his age are, banking in all sorts of deals. His winnings in 2015 stand at a “poor” $2.8 million – we reckon he can barely afford to support himself with that kind of dough. Endorsement deals are the actual goldmine that saw him get $48 million in 2015. Although retirement may be near for Mickelson, he’ll probably still be able to continue making a killing on the earning charts.
9) Tiger Woods – $50.6 million
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Tiger used to be the man raking in around $100 million in total earnings every year, however since his infidelity scandal he has dropped down the list of the highest paid athletes. Currently, Tiger makes around half of what he used to before…we know, we know, BOO HOO! His prize winnings in 2015 amounted to just $600,000, whereas all the rest of the money came from endorsement deals, totalling a cool $50 million.
10) Kobe Bryant – $49.5 million
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Kobe has recently announced plans to retire at the end of the current season, but his salary and sponsorship numbers are still going strong, making $23.5 million and $26 million respectively in 2015. Considering this is his final year in the NBA, he may be looking to capitalize on it by striking even more endorsement deals to ensure he has a decent wage while in retirement. Yes, yes, it’s all very ironic, but that’s how it is when you’re a global star. This could have been you, but when you think about it, it’s your own fault! You didn’t want to go to those extra basketball training sessions held later in the day, so instead you’re sitting on your couch now reading about some guy making millions who was actually named after Japanese beef…Funny how life works right?