The 20 highest-earning International athletes |
Roger still rules. The alltime leader in Grand Slam titles may not have won a major in more than a year, but the Swiss dominator still earns the most money out of the top 20 non-American athletes in the world. Federer's enormous endorsement portfolio puts him at No. 1, but barely a quarter-million more than No. 2 Manny Pacquiao. The Filipino boxer and congressman earned more than $50 million for two bouts over the past 12 months.
The average earnings of the International 20 hold steady at around $31 million, thanks to the strengthened power of European currencies, and buoyed by increasing earnings for global soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and enormous payouts for top Formula 1 drivers like Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
In all, this year's list features eight soccer players, four motor-sports stars, three NBA players, two tennis players, two baseball players and one boxer. As always, our list includes salary, bonuses, endorsement income and appearance fees. For the Fortunate 50 list of the top-earning American athletes, click here.
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1
Roger Federer
Tennis
Switzerland
Last Year's Rank: 1$52,781,940 -
2
Manny Pacquiao
Boxing
Philippines
Last Year's Rank: 5$52,500,000 -
3
Fernando Alonso
Auto racing
Spain
Last Year's Rank: 17$45,000,000 -
4
Lionel Messi
FC Barcelona (soccer)
Argentina
Last Year's Rank: 2$43,800,000 -
5
Cristiano Ronaldo
Real Madrid (soccer)
Portugal
Last Year's Rank: 4$38,800,000 -
6
Yao Ming
Houston Rockets (NBA)
China
Last Year's Rank: 8$35,686,100 -
7
Rafael Nadal
Tennis
Spain
Last Year's Rank: 9$31,506,278 -
8
Valentino Rossi
Motor sports
Italy
Last Year's Rank: 7$30,000,000 -
9
Wayne Rooney
Manchester United (soccer)
Great Britain
Last Year's Rank: NR$29,200,000 -
10
Kaká
Real Madrid (soccer)
Brazil
Last Year's Rank: 11$27,300,000 -
11
David Beckham
LA Galaxy (MLS)
Great Britain
Last Year's Rank: 3$26,800,000 -
12
Ronaldinho
Flamengo (soccer)
Brazil
Last Year's Rank: 16$25,800,000 -
T-13
Ichiro Suzuki
Seattle Mariners (MLB)
Japan
Last Year's Rank: 6$24,000,000 -
T-13
Lewis Hamilton
Auto racing
Great Britain
Last Year's Rank: 10$24,000,000 -
15
Carlos Tévez
Manchester City (soccer)
Argentina
Last Year's Rank: 18$21,700,000 -
16
Dirk Nowitzki
Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
Germany
Last Year's Rank: 13$21,278,618 -
17
Pau Gasol
Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
Spain
Last Year's Rank: NR$20,822,187 -
18
Miguel Cabrera
Detroit Tigers (MLB)
Venezuela
Last Year's Rank: 19$20,250,000 -
19
Frank Lampard
Chelsea (soccer)
Great Britain
Last Year's Rank: NR$20,100,000 -
20
Michael Schumacher
Auto racing
Germany
Last Year's Rank: NR$20,000,000
Sources: Salaries, winnings and bonus figures from players' associations, tour records, agents and news reports. Endorsement estimates from Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing, other sports-marketing executives and analysts, and agents. Formula One estimates are from Formula Money. Salaries based on current or most recently completed seasons (exception: 2011 for NFL). For winnings-based sports (golf, auto racing, tennis), 2010 calendar year amounts used. Boxing purses are from June 2010 to May 2011.