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Highest Paid Athletes in the World’s Biggest Sports

Highest Paid Athletes in the World’s Biggest Sports

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ThinkStockPhotos
ThinkStockPhotos

Whether or not it’s right, professional athletes are some of the highest-paid individuals in the world, outearning rocket scientists, neurosurgeons, world leaders, and even online magazine writers (gasp!). There are dozens of different ways to calculate an athlete’s salary – with or without endorsements, contracts vs. annual salaries, signing bonuses, etc. For the purposes of this comparison, we’ll be looking at the all-time top single-season earners in the world’s most popular sports. So apologies to all those diehard bikini football fans out there – you’ll have to wait for a slightly larger fan base to get the results of that one.

Floyd Mayweather fighting Robert Guerrero at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Mary Ann Owen/ WENN.com
Floyd Mayweather fighting Robert Guerrero at the MGM Grand Garden Arena
Mary Ann Owen/ WENN.com

Boxing: Floyd Mayweather – $85 million (2012)

Undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr., also known as Money May, is a five-division world champion, winning eight world titles, multiple Fighter of the Year Awards, and is considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. But his incredible $85 million paycheck in 2012 came from just two fights! Acting as his own fight promoter (through his company, Mayweather Promotions), he was able to retain the full $40 million from the fight against Victor Ortiz and $45 million against Miguel Cotto. Interesting sidenote: the IRS reported that Mayweather actually owes over $6 million in back taxes. Just one question: How?

Kimi Räikkönen winning the Australian Formula One Grand Prix ATP/WENN.com
Kimi Räikkönen winning the Australian Formula One Grand Prix
ATP/WENN.com

Formula 1 Driving: Kimi Räikkönen – $51 million (2007)

Finnish racing driver Kimi Räikkönen originally entered Formula 1 as a regular driver for Sauber-Petronas in 2001 and switched to McLaren Mercedes in 2002. But after runner-up losses to Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso in the championship due to the unreliability of the McLaren cars, he made the move to Ferrari in 2007. It was this move that netted him the highest salary of any driver in motor sport, as well as securing his first Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship! Apparently the move was well worth it, in more ways than one.

Michael Jordan Thisis50.com
Michael Jordan
Thisis50.com

Basketball: Michael Jordan – $33.14 million (1997-1998)

It’s pretty incredible that the highest paid NBA player remains somebody from the 90s, even if it is His Airness. As it is, Mikey is the only player to ever make over $30 million in a single season without counting endorsements (or the hefty sum I’m sure he got from making the smash hit movie, “Space Jam”). So to all the haters that still yell about Kobe or Lebron being the best players to ever grace the NBA – money talks. So you shouldn’t.

*Note: Michael Jordan is an anomaly when it comes to NBA salaries – he is the only player to ever make $30 million or more in a season. Traditionally, MLB players make much more than NBA players, as there is no salary cap in baseball.

Alex Rodriguez Glogster.com
Alex Rodriguez
Glogster.com

Baseball: Alex Rodriguez – $33 million (2009)

Ah, A-Rod. The youngest player to ever hit 600 home runs, the only person to ever have 14 100-RBI seasons, and the all-time leader in home runs by a player of Hispanic descent, it is not surprising that he is considered one of the best baseball players of all time. Playing third baseman for the Yankees, he signed a 10-year, $275 million contract in 2007, breaking the record for the richest contract in baseball history (and since his steroid scandal came before his time with the Yankees, it seems that he didn’t really need them after all!) – which is doubly impressive, given that there are more highly-paid athletes in baseball than in any other sport.

Samuel Eto'o playing for Inter Milan WENN.com
Samuel Eto’o playing for Inter Milan
WENN.com

Soccer: Samuel Eto’o – $30,248,060 (2012)

Despite all the hype around Beckham, Ronaldo, and Messi, it is Samuel Eto’o who is pulling in the big numbers with Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala. The Cameroonian star striker scored more than 100 goals in five seasons with his previous team, Barcelona, and is the most decorated African player of all time, winning the African Player of the Year four times. Oh, and he also led the Cameroon national team to Olympic gold in 2000 and two African National Cups, lest you think he’s overpaid.

Aaron Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers ESPN.go.com
Aaron Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers
ESPN.go.com

Football: Aaron Rodgers – $22 million (2013)

As of April 2013, Aaron Rodgers became the highest-paid player in the history of the NFL, surpassing the likes of Joe Flacco ($20.1 million), Drew Brees ($20 million), and Peyton Manning (a measly $19.2 million). Playing starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers since 2008, Rodgers led them to a 2010 Super Bowl win and was named the MVP for the game. He is the NFL’s all-time career leader in passer rating during the regular season, and maintains the lowest career pass interception percentage. Not bad for a guy who was the 24th pick in the draft.

Joe Sakic with the Colorado Avalanche DenverPost.com
Joe Sakic with the Colorado Avalanche
DenverPost.com

Hockey: Joe Sakic – $16.45 million (1997-1998)

This might be cheating, because team salary caps were introduced to the NHL after the 2004-2005 lock-out, which also stated that no player can earn more than 20 percent of the team cap. Regardless, Sakic is a hockey great, playing his entire 21-year career with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise. He won the Stanley Cup twice, played in 13 NHL All-Star Games, and is thought to have the best wrist shot in the history of the league. He also helped break Canada’s Winter Olympic drought, leading the national ice hockey team to its first gold medal in 50 years in 2002.

Novak Djokovic at the ATP Monte Carlo Masters Final 2013 WENN.com
Tennis: Novak Djokovic – $12 million (2011-2012)

Though he doesn’t made nearly as much as Federer when you factor in endorsements, Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic is still ranked No. 1 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals. He won six Grand Slam singles titles, 2 Tennis Masters Cups, and led the Serbian team to the 2010 Davis Cup. His earnings in 2011 came from wining 10 tournaments, including the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open, along with five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles. Many of the greats that fell to Djokovic that year, including Federer and Rafael Nadal, praised his season, commending him on the level of ability he was able to keep up throughout the season.

Tiger Woods at the World Golf Championships in 2013 Ai-Wire/WENN.com
Tiger Woods at the World Golf Championships in 2013
Ai-Wire/WENN.com

Golf: Tiger Woods – $11,515,939 (2005)

One of the most successful golfers of all time, Tiger’s earnings in 2005 came from the U.S. PGA Tour as well as other world tours, but without his crazy endorsement pay (that would have put him well over $80 million!) He has been world number one for the greatest total weeks of any other golfer, won PGA Player of the Year 10 times, and had the lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times. Following a scandal in 2009 in which multiple infidelities were uncovered and Tiger admitted a sex addiction, he took a leave from professional golf and lost many of his sponsors. But don’t fret – after winning the Arnold Palmer invitational in March, he moved back up to the No. 1 ranking, so he’s doing just fine.