The American magazine “Forbes” issued a list of the 10 best-paid athletes in 2022, which was dominated by the stars of European football and American basketball, and was led by Argentine star Lionel Messi.
Despite the significant decline in Messi’s level with the Paris Saint-Germain team, he continued to earn money from his new club and multiple sponsors, to return again to the top of the Forbes ratings after he also topped the list in 2019.
Surprisingly, Conor McGregor – the mixed martial arts champion who topped the list last year – didn’t even make it to the top 10 this time, as the majority of his $180 million in profits came from selling his brand.
Other notable absentees this time include the Formula 1 duo, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, tennis champion Naomi Osaka and golf star Tiger Woods, boxer Tyson Fury, as well as French star Kylian Mbappe.
Forbes stated that the evaluation included players’ revenue from contracts, salaries, bonuses, sponsorship rights, photos and individual prizes during 12 months.
Here is the list of the 10 highest paid athletes in the world:
- Argentine Lionel Messi, star of the French club Paris Saint-Germain ($ 130 million).
- American LeBron James, star of the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA ($121.2 million).
- Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United’s top scorer ($115 million).
- Brazilian Neymar da Silva, star of Paris Saint-Germain (95 million dollars).
- American Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors NBA Player ($92.8 million).
- American Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets NBA player ($92 million).
- Swiss tennis star Roger Federer ($90.7 million).
- Mexican boxing champion Canelo Alvarez ($90 million).
- American Tom Brady, American football star ($83.9 million)
- Greek Yannis Antetokumbu, Milwaukee Bucks player, NBA ($80.9 million)