Forbes Highest Paid Athlete List: For athletes, year 2020 wasn’t a great time with multiple events got postponed or cancelled including the UEFA Euro 2020 and Tokyo Olympics. As clubs faced financial crunch without ticket sales, some players took a hit with salary cut – but it seem the top 50 atheltes of the world stayed unaffected.
Forbes Highest Paid Athlete List: Despite Covid-19, top 50 athletes earned $2.8 billion, 16% increae from 2020
Despite Covid-19 pandemic, top 50 Highest Paid Athlete registered a record 16% rise in their earnings. As per Forbes Highest Paid Athlete List, the Top 50 athletes combined earned $2.8 billion, an all-time high with Conor McGregor, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo leading the charts.
As per Forbes, out of the $2.8 billion, more than $1 billion came from endorsement deals. Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer, UFC star Conor McGregor, basketball star LeBron James and Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka earning the most from endorsements.
Forbes Highest Paid Athlete List: Roger Federer, who played only one tournament in 2020 and spent the rest of the year recovering from two knee surgeries, earned only a little over half a million from the semifinal finish. The rest of his $90 million came from endorsements. Similarly, Conor McGregor earned a whopping $158 million from endorsements, the highest amongst the athletes, of his $180 million income for the period of May 2020 and May 2021.
However, there are a few athletes who earned the most from their contracts or salaries with their respective clubs. Dak Prescott, the quarterback for Dallas Cowboys in the US’ NFL, earned the most — $97.5 million — from his club with only $10 million coming from endorsement deals. FC Barcelona and Argentina’s football superstar Lionel Messi too earned the most from his club contract with $97 million. He is in 2nd place with $33 million coming from endorsements.
Forbes Highest Paid Athlete List: Juventus and Portugal’s football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who was at the 2nd place in 2019-2020 earned $120 million in total with $70 million coming from on-field earnings and the rest $50 million coming from endorsements.
Among women athletes, Naomi Osaka’s stocks rose significantly, shooting her to 12th place on the list with a total earning of $60 million. She is the highest-paid woman athlete, eclipsing fellow tennis star Serena Williams ($40 million). Osaka only earned $5 million from tournament prize money and the rest of $45 million came from her huge endorsement deals.
Forbes Highest Paid Athlete List: Despite Covid-19, top 50 athletes earned $2.8 billion, 16% increae from 2020
Top 10 List:
| Pos | Name | Total earnings | On-Field | Endorsements | Sports |
| #1 | Conor McGregor | $180 M | $22 M | $158 M | Mixed Martial Arts |
| #2 | Lionel Messi | $130 M | $97 M | $33 M | Soccer |
| #3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | $120 M | $70 M | $50 M | Soccer |
| #4 | Dak Prescott | $107.5 M | $97.5 M | $10 M | American Football |
| #5 | LeBron James | $96.5 M | $31.5 M | $65 M | Basketball |
| #6 | Neymar | $95 M | $76 M | $19 M | Soccer |
| #7 | Roger Federer | $90 M | $30 K | $90 M | Tennis |
| #8 | Lewis Hamilton | $82 M | $70 M | $12 M | Auto Racing |
| #9 | Tom Brady | $76 M | $45 M | $31 M | American Football |
| #10 | Kevin Durant | $75 M | $31 M | $44 M | Basketball |
| #12 | Naomi Osaka | $60 M | $5 M | $55 M | Tennis |