The World's Highest Paid Athletes List 2016
Below is the top 10 of the highest earning sports people for 2016, taken from the annual list “The World's 100 Highest-Paid Athletes” published by Forbes magazine in June 2016.
The top earner for this year is Real Madrid and Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, up from third last year. His earnings have increased from 79.6 to 88 million USD. This is the first year since 2001 someone besides Mayweather or Tiger Woods ranked first.
Tiger Woods' slide on the top earners list continued, dropping out of the top 10 this year, along with last year's top two Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Without a big money fight renenue, the boxers have dropped to No. 16 (Mayweather) and No. 63 (Pacquiao).
The earnings totals (in US dollars) are derived from salaries, bonuses, prize money, appearance fees, licensing and endorsement income in the 12 months from May 1, 2015 to May 1, 2016. Taxes or agents' fees are not factored into the figures. See also the Forbes top earning lists from other years.
Top-10 Highest Earning Sports people from 2016
| Rank | Name | Sport | Nationality | earning ($ million) | previous year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Soccer | Portugal | 88.0 | 3 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Soccer | Argentina | 81.4 | 4 |
| 3 | LeBron James | Basketball | USA | 77.2 | 6 |
| 4 | Roger Federer | Tennis | Switzerland | 67.8 | 5 |
| 5 | Kevin Durant | Basketball | USA | 56.2 | 7 |
| 6 | Novak Djokovic | Tennis | Serbia | 55.8 | 13 |
| 7 | Cam Newton | American Football | USA | 53.1 | >20 |
| 8 | Phil Mickelson | Golf | USA | 52.9 | 8 |
| 9 | Jordan Spieth | Golf | USA | 52.8 | >20 |
| 10 | Kobe Bryant | Basketball | USA | 50.0 | 10 |
Next on the list were: Lewis Hamilton, Tiger Woods, Eli manning, Joe Flacco, Tom Brady, Floyd Mayweather, Rory McIlroy, Russell Wilson, Sebastian Vettel, Philip Rivers.
Highest Ranked For Each Sport in 2016
The highest ranked from each sport is listed below.
| Sport | Overall Rank | Name | earning ($ million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soccer | 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 88.0 |
| Basketball | 3 | LeBron James | 77.2 |
| Tennis | 4 | Roger Federer | 67.8 |
| American Football | 7 | Cam Newton | 53.1 |
| Golf | 8 | Phil Mickelson | 52.9 |
| Auto Racing | 11 | Lewis Hamilton | 46.0 |
| Boxing | 16 | Floyd Mayweather | 44.0 |
| Track and Field | 32 | Usain Bolt | 32.5 |
| Baseball | 33 | Clayton Kershaw | 32.0 |
| MMA | 85 | Conner McGregor | 22.0 |
sports not on top 100 list: cricket ...
source: from “The World's 100 Highest-Paid Athletes” published by Forbes magazine in May 2016.
Related Pages
- See the top earning lists from other years.
- highlights of world sport in 2016
- Other world sport lists
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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