Like every year, Forbes magazine unveiled the ranking of the best paid athletes on the planet. In the lead, we find Conor McGregor, who dethrones Roger Federer and precedes Cristiano Ronaldo. Naomi Osaka sets a new record for women.
There is a new king on the sport planet! After Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor is the second specialist in combat sports to rise to the top of the ranking of the highest paid athletes on the planet. The MMA star dethrones Roger Federer, with earnings estimated at $ 180 million by Forbes magazine.
McGregor is ahead of Lionel Messi ($ 130 million) and Cristiano Ronaldo ($ 120 million). In the rest of the Top 15, there are many American athletes, with four NBA players (James, Curry, Durant and Westbrook) and three NFL quarterbacks (Prescott, Brady and Mahomes).
Woods and Federer still there despite everything
The veterans are resisting, like Roger Federer and Tiger Woods, who hardly played during the period taken into account by Forbes (May 1, 2020 – May 1, 2021), but remain firmly anchored in the rankings . The Swiss pocketed 30,000 euros in tournament winnings (for his two matches in Dubai in March), while the “Tiger”, no better than 37th in the Grand Slam golf tournaments, collected 200,000 dollars in prize- money. But their overall revenues stand at $ 90 million and $ 60 million respectively, thanks to their sponsors, and allow them to remain No. 1 in their respective sports.
Osaka at its highest
Among women, who are only two in the Top 50, Naomi Osaka (12th) is still ahead of Serena Williams (28th). The Japanese, who recently exposed her psychological problems during Roland Garros, sets a new record with $ 60 million in earnings over the past 12 months, where she won two major titles (US Open, Australian Open). No sportswoman has been paid so well in history, and Osaka, for example, is ahead of male stars Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
The French, too, are only two in the Top 100. These are Kylian Mbappé (31st, 40 million dollars), who could find much higher in the years to come, and Paul Pogba (43rd).
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