Professional sport is one of the areas affected by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Due to the cancellation of the most important sporting events, the income of participants in the top 100 richest athletes in the world began to fall.
This year, they cumulatively earned $ 3.6 billion, which is 9% less than last year. Nevertheless, contracts with sponsors, investments and, of course, salaries in clubs allow celebrities to maintain the lifestyle they are used to.
We present you the top 10 highest paid athletes of 2020 according to Forbes.
10. Carson Wentz - $ 59.1 million, American football player
Last year, Wentz was not among the top 100 athletes with the highest incomes. But times are changing, and now he is already in the top ten. Last year, the American club Philadelphia Eagles signed a four-year $ 128 million contract with Wentz.
This amount includes a subscription bonus of $ 16.4 million, as well as an optional bonus of $ 30 million, which was paid in March this year.
9. Kirk Cousins - $ 60.5 million, American football player
Cousins has not yet been favored by cash flow from sponsors, and advertising contracts this year brought him only $ 2.5 million. Of course, this is a fantastic amount for an ordinary person, but a real trifle compared to other participants in the top 10.
But in March 2020, he signed a two-year extension of the $ 66 million contract with the Vikings, including a bonus of $ 30 million. Thanks to him, Cousins is the highest paid NFL player between June 2019 and June 2020.
8. Tiger Woods - $ 62.3 million, golfer
The only golfer in the ten richest athletes according to Forbes will soon appear on the screens in the new two-part film from the HBO channel. Although Woods himself did not tell the channel anything about himself, film makers are not confused. Indeed, they have at their disposal over 250 interviews with people familiar with the famous athlete.
The film will focus on a high-profile sexual scandal, which almost put an end to the career of the great golfer. When the information that married Woods had an affair with Rachel Teacher leaked to the media, she gave way to a wide stream of other women's confessions. It turned out that the athlete had 121 lovers.
In the meantime, the loving Tiger is waving a club for $ 2.3 million (the remaining $ 60 million is advertising contracts), we will wait until the fall when the film about him is due out.
7. Kevin Durant - $ 63.9 million, basketball player
The Brooklyn Nets player and ten-time NBA All-Star player receives $ 35 million from advertising contracts alone. He is also an active investor who has invested in more than 40 companies, including Postmates and the Acorns investment application.
This season, Durant does not plan to return to the floor, even after the resumption of the 2019/20 season, which was stopped due to the coronavirus. Recall that last summer the player was injured - an Achilles tendon rupture, and because of this he did not spend a single match for his new team.
6. Stephen Curry - $ 74.4 million, basketball player
Like many participants in the selection of the most earned athletes in the world, the star point guard "Warriors" receives a large share of his income from participation in advertising. However, he does not have many sponsors: Callaway Golf, Under Armor, Chase and Fanatics.
In addition to basketball, Curry and Challenges are not alien. So, recently he took part in #ShirtOffShootOut, the essence of which is to throw his own clothes into the basket from a three-meter distance.
5. LeBron James - $ 88.2 million, basketball player
Despite the fact that over the past 12 months, LeBron’s income decreased by $ 800 thousand, he immediately rose three points in the ranking of the richest sports stars. And most of the revenue to the famous basketball player came from advertising contracts with KIA Motors, Nike, Coca-Cola, and other sponsors.
But even if you imagine that “King James” suddenly quits his sports career, he will not remain barefoot and hungry. After all, he, together with partners, owns 19 franchises Blaze Pizza. And in 2018, the athlete teamed up with Cindy Crawford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lindsey Vonn to found Ladder, a sports nutrition brand that is sold by subscription.
4. Neymar - $ 95.5 million, football player
The move of this football player from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain still leads the list of the most expensive transfers in the history of football. The French paid $ 263 million for Neymar.
But the old fat times have passed, and in 2020 Neymar earned $ 70.5 million in his club, while a year earlier this amount was $ 75 million. The remaining amount to the athlete brought advertising contracts with Electronic Arts, Nike, Beats Electronics and other companies.
3. Lionel Messi - $ 104 million, football player
The winner of last year’s richest athletes rating in 2020 was only in third place. His current contract with Barcelona, concluded until 2020–21, brought in $ 72 million, and the remaining $ 32 million was received from sponsorship contracts with various companies (Adidas, Huawei, Pepsi, etc.).
Messi is not only the face of Argentinean football, but also one of the celebrities whom WHO has entrusted with conducting a worldwide campaign aimed at halting the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its essence was recommendations for the prevention of coronavirus infection.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo - $ 105 million, football player
Due to the suspension of the game season in March this year, football clubs cut salaries for their players. And even stars like Ronaldo and Messi felt on themselves what the financial crisis meant.
One of the most beautiful and popular football players in the world is still enough for bread with black caviar, his salary amounted to $ 60 million, and he received another $ 45 million from advertising contracts. However, last year Ronaldo earned $ 109 million.
1. Roger Federer - $ 106 million, tennis player
Overtaking such highly paid sports stars as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, tennis player Roger Federer climbed on a financial podium. This happened for the first time in the history of the Forbes ranking, but, as you know, maybe not the last.
Federer is a champion in sponsorship contracts, thanks to them he managed to earn $ 100 million over the past year. 13 companies cooperate with him, including such giants as Credit Suisse, Wilson, Mercedes-Benz and Nike. Brands' love for Federer is explained by his image: an exemplary family man, in connections that discredit him, is not noticed, always looks and speaks elegantly. And besides, he wins on the courts around the world. This means that it is popular not only in its own country.
None of the Russians entered the new Forbes sports and monetary rating. If you take the NHL stars, then the largest salary from Alexander Ovechkin is $ 15 million, and Alexander receives a third of this amount from sponsorship contracts.
