On January 24th he was knocked out against Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier, the American was also a stumbling block on July 10th. McGregor had to retire due to a foot injury and was given a titanium bar as a souvenir. But that doesn’t prevent the 33-year-old convalescent Irishman from making money.
The well-known “Forbes” magazine ranks the eccentric at number one in the athletes’ merit ranking list in 2021. McGregor may have collected “only” 19.4 million euros in the cage, but advertising income and the noble whiskey “Proper No.” . 12 “promoted the shrewd businessman, who likes to let his fists speak, with a respectable lead to first place.
McGregor has an annual income of 160 million euros, soccer stars Lionel Messi (114.9 million) and Cristiano Ronaldo (105.9 million) can’t even begin to compete.
No Austrian in the top 50
Business in the US professional leagues NFL and NBA is also lucrative – at least for the superstars. Football quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Tom Brady are among the top ten, as are basketball giants LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
One looks in vain for Austrian athletes in the top 50 of “Forbes”, there is also no official national ranking. If there was one, the soccer stars David Alaba (Real Madrid) and Marko Arnautovic (FC Bologna), tennis ace Dominic Thiem, basketball professional Jakob Pöltl (top performer at the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA) or the established one would be Golfer and Ryder Cup participant Bernd Wiesberger cavort in the top field.
As usual, women are grossly underrepresented in the global ranking, only the two “usual suspects” from the tennis circus – Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams – are among the top 50. Osaka dominates the Asian market as Japan’s most popular female athlete, the world rankings 13th and the twelfth in the money ranking list earned 48.6 million euros on the advertising line, and only 4.4 million euros on the court. The latter is conclusive as the 24-year-old four-time Grand Slam triumphant took time off this season due to psychological problems that she had openly communicated.
Naomi Osaka. Bild: MATTHEW STOCKMAN (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA)
Serena Williams vor Djokovic
Serena Williams ?? Appearances on the WTA Tour 2021 were also rare, with prize money of 1.3 million being compared to other income of 35.3 million. With 28th place in the “Financial Ranking”, the 40-year-old American stole the show from a certain Novak Djokovic. The Serbian tennis world number one occupies “only” position 46 with a total of 30 million.
Incidentally, the top earners are not feeling the effects of the ongoing corona crisis. This year it took 30 million to make it into the top 50. In 2020, 26 million was enough.
more on the subject
–
The 2021 money list
1. Conor McGregor (Ireland, Mixed Martial Arts): 19.4 million euros earned / 139.6 million euros other income / total: 160.0 million euros
2. Lionel Messi (Argentina, soccer): 85.7 / 29.2 /114,9
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Football): 61.7/44.2/105,9
4. Dak Prescott (USA, American Football): 86,1/8,8/94,9
5. LeBron James (USA, Basketball): 27,8/57,4/85,2
6. Neymar (Brazil, soccer): 67.1 / 16.9 /84,0
7. Roger Federer (Switzerland, tennis) 0.6 / 79.5 /80,1
8. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, Formula 1) 61.8 / 10.6 /72,4
9. Tom Brady (USA, American Football) 39,7/27,4/67,1
10. Kevin Durant (USA, Basketball) 27.4 / 38.9 /66,3
12. Naomi Osaka (Japan, Tennis) 4,4/48,6/53,0
28. Serena Williams (USA, Tennis) 1,3/35,3/36,6
View picture gallery
Photo gallery: These are “Europe’s Sportsman of the Year”
Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO (AFP)
Djokovic is Europe’s Sportsman of the Year
Tennis star Novak Djokovic, who canceled his appearance at the ATP Cup (from January 1st in Sydney), has been named Europe’s Sportsman of the Year for the fourth time. The 34-year-old Serb, who narrowly missed the Grand Slam this year – i.e. victories in all four major tournaments – was clearly ahead of soccer star Robert Lewandowski (Pol) and Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen ( Ned) through. 26 European news agencies (including the APA) took part in the election.
–
