The world’s highest-paid athletes have raked in a combined US$992 million over the last 12 months according to Forbes’ estimates. This represents a 6% drop from 2021, and much of it can be attributed to Connor McGregor’s massive earnings of US$180 million from last year, after he pocketed a massive US$150 million from the sale of his Irish Whiskey brand, Proper No. Twelve.
This year’s collective total is the third-highest ever, behind last year’s US$1.05 billion and the US$1.06 billion of 2018, when McGregor once again skewed the results because of his superfight against Floyd Mayweather.
With McGregor’s fall, it is the footballing superstar Lionel Messi, who after spending seventeen years with FC Barcelona left his only-known professional home to move to the French superclub Paris-Saint Germain, finds himself on top of Forbes’ annual ranking of the world’s highest-paid athletes just for the second time (first in 2019). Although there’s a massive drop in his salary — down from US$97m in his final year with Barcelona to US$75m with PSG — a major boost in endorsement deals sees him beat the likes of LeBron James and his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo to top the list.
Cristiano Ronaldo still finds himself in the third spot. He has seen his returns diminish just a little bit as his earnings fell from US$120 million last year to US$115 million this time around. However, sandwiched between the two footballing giants is a great from the basketball arena: LeBron James took home US$96.5 million last year, which was a record for an NBA player. This year, though, he has eclipsed his record by raking in a massive US$121.2 million, becoming only the tenth-ever player to breach the US$100 million mark.
