Every year there’s a list that lets us know what the top athletes in the world are making. This year’s top-earning athlete was none other but Floyd “Money” Mayweather. The fight between him and Connor McGregor propelled him to a nice payday of $275 million and made him the top earner for the fourth time in seven years. The fight also made the UFC star McGregor about $85 million which is a huge increase to any of his previous pay day’s.
According to Forbes:
The two fighters produced an entertaining 10-round battle, and viewers around the globe watched Mayweather improve to a record of 50-0 for his career. The 4.3 million pay-per-view buyers helped the fight generate more than $550 million in total revenue.
Each sport has seen an uptick in humongous TV deals that has allowed franchises to pay their star athletes much bigger deals. This has been clearly evident in the NBA where their new TV deal in 2016 contributed to eligible free agents signing some of the biggest deals seen before.
Even with NBA players riddled throughout the Forbes top earners list, the top earners are still soccer players. Soccer megastars players Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar are all in the top 5 of the list with Floyd and McGregor. The earnings also include each athlete endorsement deals.
For all of Lebron’s success he has yet to crack the top 5 in his career and as the top NBA earner reportedly:
LeBron James, banked $85.5 million, including endorsements, over the last 12 months to rank sixth among the highest-paid athletes.
The list also in the past consisted of female athletes but for the first time since 2010, no female athletes made the list. Flip the page to see the list from Forbes.