Highest Paying Sporting Events in 2011
Here is a list published by Forbes Magazine in 2011 of the 15 highest paying sporting events. The list is based on the prize money paid out to the winner of either a single event or a tournament, and does not include an event's total prize money or any season-long competitions that do not end in a playoff tournament (like the English Premier League).
See also the top 10 highest paid in 2011 according to Sports Illustrated, and the Forbes World's Highest Paid Athletes List 2011.
Most of the sporting events on the list are soccer tournaments (taking the top three spots, and 5 in total). The only other prominent sport is horse racing with three races listed. The winner of the highest prize in sports is the UEFA Champions League with $43.4 million awarded to the champions. The players are well paid, but all this does not go to them. The highest prize money for an individual in an event is the winner of the FedEx Cup, in 2010 it was US player Jim Furyk taking home a cool $10 million.
| Rank | Event | Sport | Latest Champion | Prize ($ mill. USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UEFA Champions League | Soccer | Barcelona | $43.4 million |
| 2 | UEFA European Football Championship | Soccer | Spain (in 2008) | 33 |
| 3 | FIFA World Cup | Soccer | Spain (in 2010) | 31 |
| 4 | FedEx Cup | Golf | Jim Furyk | 10 |
| 5 | UEFA Europa League | Soccer | Porto | 9 |
| 6 | World Series of Poker | Poker | Jonathan Duhamel (Canada) | 8.9 |
| 7 | The Super Bowl | American Football | Green Bay Packers | 8.5 |
| 8 | The World Series | Baseball | The San Francisco Giants (in 2010) | 7.9 |
| 9 | The Dubai World Cup Night | Horse Racing | Victoire Pisa (from Japan) | 6 |
| 10 | ICC Cricket World Cup | Cricket | India (in 2011) | 4 |
| 11 | The Japan Cup | Horse Racing | Rose Kingdom (in 2010) | 3.13 |
| 12 | The Breeder's Cup Classic | Horse Racing | Blame (in 2010) | 2.7 |
| 13 | The Indy 500 | Auto Racing | Dan Wheldon (USA) | 2.6 |
| 14 | FA Cup | Soccer | Manchester City (2011) | 2.6 |
| 15 | The Australian Open | Tennis | Novak Djokovic and Kim Clijsters (2011) | 2.3 |
References
- Http://blogs.forbes.com/monteburke/2011/07/07/the-richest-sporting-events-in-the-world/
Related Pages
- See other Forbes Lists
- Other world sport lists
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