The top earners in sports for 2025 will be announced in June 2025.

Ronaldo topped the list in 2024, will he top the list for the 5th time in 2025?

Last year there were no women in the top 50.

See also the Forbes top-earning lists from previous years.

Below is the top-10 of the highest earning sportspeople for 2025, taken from the annual list of the 50 highest-paid athletes published by Forbes magazine in June 2025.

WAITING FOR UPDATE!

Top-10 Highest Earning Sports people from 2025

Rank Name Sport Nationality Earnings* ($ million) Previous Year
  Cristiano Ronaldo Soccer Portugal   1
  Jon Rahm Golf Spain   2
  Lionel Messi Soccer Argentina   3
  LeBron James Basketball USA   4
  Giannis Antetokounmpo Basketball Greece   5
  Kylian Mbappe Soccer France   6
  Neymar Soccer Brazil   7
  Karim Benzema Soccer France   8
  Stephen Curry Basketball USA   9
  Lamar Jackson American Football USA   10

* 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, 2023 to May 1, 2025. Taxes or agents' fees are not factored into the figures.

Ronaldowill Ronaldo top the list for the fifth time?

Highest Ranked For Each Sport in 2025

The highest ranked athlete from each sport in the top-50 is listed below. This year six different sports were represented on the list, and surprisingly there are no tennis players.

Overall Rank Name Sport   earning ($ million)
1   Soccer Portugal  
2   Golf Spain  
4   Basketball USA  
10   American Football USA  
13   Baseball Japan  
14   Boxing Mexico  
17   Auto Racing Belgium