The 20 Highest Paid Athletes In the World

Derrick Rose: $33.9 Million – Basketball

Rose is a former MVP and was the No. 1 overall draft pick, and yet most of his pro career has been interrupted by injuries. The star has only 2 more seasons on his 5 year $95 million contract with the Chicago Bulls. Surprisingly, given his lack of court time, Rose has some of the highest off-court income given a 13-year, $185 million Adidas shoe deal he signed in 2012. In 2014, his signature shoes brought in $32 million for Adidas. And he enjoys income from endorsements with Powerade, Wilson, Skullcandy, 2K Sports, Giordano’s and Panini as well.

Derrick Presenting Adidas’ Derrick Rose Shoes

Jon Lester: $34.1 Million – Baseball

When Lester signed his $155 million deal with the Cubs and said good-bye to Boston, he left behind sponsorship deals with New England Ford, Verizon Wireless and People’s United Bank. Of course it is expected that other companies will quickly pick him up, and he still has his big sponsor Nike. Lester also received a $30 million signing bonus, getting half in April 2015 and the rest via installments between 2018 and 2020. Pretty nice.

Gareth Bale: $35 Million – Soccer

Real Madrid had paid $118 million to get Bale from Tottenham back in 2013; but now rumors are spreading that the Welshman may be headed back to the UK. Of course, this footballer also has a six-year, $35 million contract with Adidas he signed in 2014 as well as his commentary deal. Yep, Bale likes to talk, and BT Sport has a 3 year contract with the soccer star for his expert commentary. Keep talking Gareth.

Fernando Alonso: $35.5 Million – Formula One Driver

Alonso may be a 2 time World Champion, but he ended up 6th last year with Ferrari and has gone nowhere thus far in 2015. The star driver has a 2 year, $60 million contract now with McLaren for whom he drove back in 2007. But Alonso appears to have other interests at heart in a far less speedier arena: he has plans for a pro cycling team with UAE sport investment firm Novo.

Ndamukong Suh: $38.6 Million – Football

Suh is the proud owner of a six-year, $114.3 million contract with the Miami Dolphins after five years playing for the Detroit Lions. His contract includes a $25 million signing bonus as well as $59.9 million guarantee which makes Suh the highest paid defensive player in NFL history. Suh is also the player with the highest number of personal fouls in NFL history and has supposedly paid over $200,000 in fines. Nevertheless, the guy can play ball, and that’s all fans and his team care about.

Lewis Hamilton: $39 Million – Formula One Driver

Hamilton took home his second F1 World Championship last year and looks to be set for another; Mercedes’ F1 team gave the star a three-year contract extension which could top $140 million, including bonuses. UK’s SportsPro magazine named him the most marketable athlete in the world in 2014, and more sponsorship deals are sure to come with the driver already signing contracts with IWC and Bombardier.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: $39.1 Million – Soccer

The Swedish striker helped Paris Saint-Germain attain the French league title. He’s also the team’s top scorer for the last three years, and he has the multi-million dollar paycheck to show for it. His application for a US Visa fueled rumors that Zlatan will make a move to MLS when his current contract expires in 2016. He may have picked up a new sponsor as well given the fact his swoosh Nike logo was barely visible on the cleats he wore late 2014.

Novak Djokovic: $48 Million – Tennis

Djokovic comes in second for overall prize money with $79 million. Djokovic has taken home $59 million in winnings since 2011 and is at the height of his game. Sponsors have come calling with ANZ, Jacob’s Creek, and Peugeot among those who have signed just last year, and his current $1 million exhibition fee ain’t too shabby either. In true star style, Djokovic gave his $750,000 winner’s check from the Italian Open last year to help flood relief in his native Serbia.

Rory McIlroy: $48.3 Million – Golf

Rory has had five PGA victories, including 2 Majors, in the last 12 months and earned $16.3 million in prize money plus bonus money from sponsor, Nike. With other prime deals as well, Rory’s major steal came with becoming the face of Electronic Arts golf video game, a position last held by Tiger Woods. Of course it hasn’t been all roses, as the 26-year-old had his former agents sue him for millions they claimed Rory owed them from various deals and winnings.

Ben Roethlisberger: $48.9 Million – Football

Roethlisberger received a $31 million signing bonus when he signed a 4 year, $87.4 million extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2015. With 2 Super Bowl championships under his belt, “Big Ben” hit new records for passing yards and touchdown passes in 2014, 11 years after he began his pro career. He is also the first to record 6 touchdowns in 2 consecutive games as well as to throw for 500 yards in 2 different games. In other words, he’s worth it.

Kobe Bryant: $49.5 Million – Basketball

Guess he can keep biting his shirts because he can certainly afford to replace them, along with the red Ferrari. For 5 years now Kobe has enjoyed the highest salary in the NBA, earning $23.5 million for 2014-15. Having been playing less due to injuries, the 17-time All-Star has his mind on his own businesses recently. Kobe Inc. was set up in 2013 and invested in sports drink maker, BodyArmor where Kobe will sit on the board and oversee marketing and branding for the product.

Tiger Woods: $50.6 Million – Golf

Injuries have kept this winner of 14 Majors from his normal schedule over the past 2 years, winning his last major at the US Open in 2008. Woods has also been minus the huge appearance money he makes overseas, earning only only $600,000 in the past year. But he now has new deals with MusclePharm and India’s Hero motorcycles, plus he has finally opened the first Woods-designed golf course in Mexico last year. A US course will be opening in Houston this year, and others are planned for China and Dubai.

Phil Mickelson: $50.8 Million – Golf

As a 5-time Major champion and with 42 PGA victories, Mickelson takes home $40 million plus every year from his deals with Callaway, Barclays, KPMG, Exxon Mobil, Rolex and Amgen. After being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, he now endorses Enbre’s drug to treat the disease. Mickelson’s most recent win was at the 2013 British Open, and his $77 million in career prize money ranks as the second highest amount ever.

Kevin Durant: $54.2 Million – Basketball

Durant took home the MVP trophy in 2014 with the Oklahoma Thunder and is a 4-time NBA scoring champ. This season will be his last with the team under his $85 million contract signed back in 2010. Yet, this ball player has many more years of handsome revenue stream due to a 10-year deal with Nike he signed in 2014 worth up to $300 million. Add to that the bevy of other sponsors he has including Sprint, Sonic, and Skullcandy, and Durant looks to be sitting pretty for some time to come.

LeBron James: $64.8 Million – Basketball

Hey, if you can appear in 5 straight NBA Finals and be a 4-time MVP maybe you can get cool lights like that too! Having returned to Cleveland in 2014, LeBron opted for a shorter contract for $42.1 million so that he can be a free agent in 2016 at the same time NBA salary caps will go sky high. Along with an insanely long list of companies he faces for, LeBron’s signature Nike shoes brought in $340 million in the U.S. for 2014. Now that’s what we call clout!

Roger Federer: $67 Million – Tennis

Federer is back close to the top after dropping to No. 7 in the world in 2013. 17 years after turning pro, he is currently No. 2 and has the records to show for it: most singles Grand Slam wins (17) and career prize money ($90 million). A savvy guy off the court as well as on, Federer has set up a series of long-term endorsement deals with the likes of Rolex and Credit Suisse providing him with a comfy income of some $40 million each year.

Lionel Messi: $73.8 Million – Soccer

A record 4-time FIFA player of the year, Barcelona decided Messi deserved a raise, so they gave him an extra $9 million a year. This means Messi now will earn $50 million annually through 2018. He has even more funds coming in via his sponsors including Samsung who turned him into Iron Man in their Avengers promo. Then again, his slew of records on the field does make him kind of a superhero.

Cristiano Ronaldo: $79.6 Million – Soccer

Now a 3-time and current FIFA’s world’s best player, Ronaldo is paid well for his goal-a-game performance. That would be compensation to the tune of more than $50 million a year salary (with bonuses) through 2018. Ronaldo makes further income away from Real Madrid via his Nike sponsorship and own line of underwear and t-shirts. After all, this is the guy with 102 million Facebook likes and 35 million Twitter followers.

Manny Pacquiao: $160 Million – Boxing

He engaged in what was called the fight of the century with Floyd Mayweather; he lost, but hey: $125 million (including $23 million for a fight with Chris Algieri) ain’t too shabby. And it was also 4 times as much as his previous record payday, so the guy could not be complaining. Now out of the ring in order to recover from an injury, Pacquiao can enjoy his millions along with additional funds coming in from several endorsement deals in the US and the Philippines. And of course he has his career as a Filipino Congressman to focus on.

Floyd Mayweather: $300 Million – Boxing

Mayweather surpassed Tiger Woods’ $115 million a year in 2008 with a whopping $300 million made when he fought Manny Pacquiao in 2015. And that’s not the only record broken by the historic fight. There were more PPV buys (4.4 million), total gate ($73 million) and sponsorships ($13 million) than ever before with some $600 million total expected to be grossed once all is finally tallied. Of course this all comes from a guy who holds a 48-0 record in his boxing career.