Top 10 highest paid athletes 2024: Cristiano Ronaldo seals No. 1 spot with $260 million, beats Lionel Messi by...

File photo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

Top 10 highest paid athletes 2024: Talismanic footballer Cristiano Ronaldo emerged as the highest paid athlete of 2024 as his earnings were reported at $260 million. Ronaldo was followed by Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry, who stood second in the list. However, the difference between earnings of both sport-stars was over $100 million. Curry's yearly income was $153.8 million as per the data compiled by Sportico. Meanwhile, no female athletes or Indians featured in top 100.

Most of Ronaldo's income came from his salary and winnings for Al-Nassr and the Portugal national team. Ronaldo has a lucrative contract with the Saudi club, which reportedly paid the 40-year-old around $215 million. In addition Ronaldo made some $45 million through off-the-field endorsements.

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If we look at Ronaldo's trajectory in the Saudi Pro League, the player has netted 82 goals in 90 matches across competitions for Al-Nassr, which made him the first footballer to have 900 career goals in September last year.

Out of the players who ply their trade in the oil-rich nation, Ronaldo tops the list, while Brazilian superstar Neymar and France's Karim Benzema are the other two names to feature in top 10. Neymar stands sixth in the list with an annual earning of $133 million. He too had a lucrative contract with Al-Hilal but injuries forced him to move to his boyhood club Santos. Meanwhile, former Real Madrid man Benzema, who is now a Al-Ittihad star, is placed eighth with an annual earning of $116m.

If we switch focus to basketball, in particular NBA, only Curry and LeBron James find themselves in the top 10. While Curry is second ($53.8 million through salary/winnings and $100 million through endorsements), James' earning is estimated at $133.2 million ($48.2 million in salary/winnings and $85 million in endorsements).

The data suggested that male athletes dominated the sporting industry, and mentioned rising tennis star Coco Gauff as the highest-earning female athlete, however, she was out of the top 100.

As per the list, the top 100 highest earning athletes come from eight sports and 27 countries and made $6.2 billion in total income in 2024 ($4.8 billion in salary and prize money and $1.4 billion from their endorsements away from the field).

Top 10 earners in 2024:

Cristiano Ronaldo (Football): $260m
Stephen Curry (Basketball): $153.8m
Tyson Fury (Boxing): $147m
Lionel Messi (Football): $135m
LeBron James (Basketball): $133.2m
Neymar (Football): $133m
Oleksandr Usyk (Boxing): $122m
Karim Benzema (Football): $116m
Kylian Mbappe (Football): $110m John Rahm (Golf): $105.8m