Money in sport has become a huge talking point.
Colombian footballer James Rodriguez recently became the fourth-most-expensive signing when Real Madrid
paid almost $110m to Monaco to get his signature.
Earlier this week, Rory McIlroy pocketed $1.6m for winning golf's Open
Championship at Hoylake.
Select european footballers are earning in excess of $340,000 a week.
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| 2) Cristiano Ronaldo, football - $80m. Holder of the
Ballon d'Or and an integral cog of the Real Madrid squad, Cristiano
Ronaldo was voted the sport's most valuable player in the world in 2013
for the second time in his career. Real won the Champions League last
season and the Portuguese has a record five-year contract worth more
than $200m. | | |
Forbes recently revealed a list of the highest-paid athletes in the
world today. Here, I share the top 10 from that list.
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| 1) Floyd Mayweather, boxing - $105m. the world's
highest-paid athlete is boxer Floyd Mayweather who became the athlete
besides Tiger Woods to earn $100m in Forbes' annual tally of the
highest-paid athletes. Mayweather earned a guaranteed $32m for his May
fight with Marcos Maidana. |
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| 3) LeBron James, NBA - $72.3m. LeBron James won
back-to-back championships with Miami Heat and four MVP awards. Sales of
his signature Nike shoes were tops among active players at $300m in the
US last year, according to SportsOneSource, and his jersey was the
NBA's best-seller. |
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| 4) Lionel Messi, football - $64.7m. Barcelona's Lionel
Messi finished behind Cristiano Ronaldo in this year's Ballon d'Or award
after winning it four consecutive times. In May, he signed a new
five-year contract with the Spanish club which will pay him $50m
annually. |
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| 5) Kobe Bryant, NBA - $61.5m. Kobe Bryant managed just
six games in the 2013-14 season due to a knee injury but had the highest
salary in the NBA for the fourth straight year - a whopping $30.5m,
nearly $8m higher than any other player, according to Forbes. |
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| 6) Tiger Woods, golf - $61.2m. Tiger Woods' comeback
from back surgery has not gone according to plan as he failed to impress
in the two tournaments this summer. However, the former top-ranked
golfer is second on the list of most Major titles won - 14. |
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| 7) Roger Federer, tennis - $56.2m. Roger Federer who
holds the records for most singles Grand Slam wins (17) and career prize
money ($81m). He has appeared in a record 25 Grand Slam finals, and 18
out of 19 between 2005 and 2010. |
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| 8) Phil Mickelson, golf - $53.2m. Phil Mickelson picked
up some extra dollars in sponsor bonuses after winning the British Open
for the first time last year. He earns more than $40 million annually
from appearances and endorsement partners, according to Forbes. |
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| 9) Rafael Nadal, tennis - $44.5m. Spain's tennis star
Rafael Nadal sits ninth on the list with earnings of $44.5m. Nadal had a
astonoshing 2013 season where he went 75-7 and finished top of the
rankings. |
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| 10) Matt Ryan, NFL - $43.8m. Matt Ryan signed a
five-year contract in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons last year which
was worth $103.75m. The figure included a $28m signing bonus and a $12m
option bonus paid in March. |
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