The World's Highest Paid Athletes List 2022
Sports around the world continue to be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, though it does not seem to have affected player earnings - there are still plenty of athletes earning big bucks.
The top earner for 2022 was Lionel Messi with earnings totaling 130 million US dollars. Messi was second last year, and topped the list in 2019. Last year's number one, Conor McGregor, dropped out of the top-10 altogether. There were two women in the top 50, tennis players Naomi Osaka (19th) and Serena Williams (31st).
See also the Forbes top-earning lists from other years.
Below is the top-10 of the highest earning sportspeople for 2022, taken from the annual list of highest-paid athletes published by Forbes magazine in June 2022.
Top-10 Highest Earning Sports people from 2022
| Rank | Name | Sport | Nationality | Earnings* ($ million) | Previous Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Soccer | Argentina | 130 | 2 |
| 2 | LeBron James | Basketball | USA | 121 | 5 |
| 3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Soccer | Portugal | 115 | 3 |
| 4 | Neymar | Soccer | Brazil | 95 | 6 |
| 5 | Stephen Curry | Basketball | USA | 93 | 11 |
| 6 | Kevin Durant | Basketball | USA | 92 | 10 |
| 7 | Roger Federer | Tennis | Switzerland | 91 | 7 |
| 8 | Canelo Alvarez | Boxing | Mexico | 90 | >20 |
| 9 | Tom Brady | American Football | USA | 84 | 9 |
| 10 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Basketball | Greece | 81 | 19 |
Next on the list were: Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Tiger Woods, Josh Allen, Lewis Hamilton, Tyson Fury, Naomi Osaka, Damian Lillard.
* note: 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, 2021 to May 1, 2022. Taxes or agents' fees are not factored into the figures.
Messi tops the list for the 2nd timeHighest Ranked For Each Sport in 2022
The highest ranked athlete from each sport in the top-50 is listed below. This year 9 different sports were represented on the list.
| Overall Rank | Name | Sport | earning ($ million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | Soccer | 130 |
| 2 | LeBron James | Basketball | 121 |
| 7 | Roger Federer | Tennis | 91 |
| 8 | Canelo Alvarez | Boxing | 90 |
| 9 | Tom Brady | American Football | 84 |
| 14 | Tiger Woods | Golf | 68 |
| 17 | Lewis Hamilton | Auto-Racing | 65 |
| 23 | Mike Trout | Baseball | 35.5 |
| 35 | Conor McGregor | MMA | 43 |
source: The full list of the top-50 highest earners was published on the Forbes website in May 2022.
Related Pages
- See the top earning lists from other years.
- Top paid women for 2022
- Other world sport lists
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