The world’s highest paid athletes in 2023: The top 3 places go to football players, no women in the top 25

The world’s highest paid athletes over the past year are all men this time. And Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo rules them all. There are also many American footballers and golfers.

Last year the ranking was dominated by MMA fighter Conor McGregor, who is now not even among the elite 25 athletes of the ranking.

The top spot was dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo, who improved two places from last year. In second place we find his football rival, Argentine Lionel Messi, who, like last year, took the second position.

The highest paid athletes in the world in 2023

Cristiano Ronaldo, the football icon, earns $177 million a year. Next year, thanks to the generosity of the sheiks and how they value him, he will be even more wealthy in terms of earnings.

The brands he works with, such as Altice, Binance, Delivery Hero, Herbalife, Nike, Panini and Therabody, have a significant share of the finances.

In the ranking of the highest paid athletes in the world, it is worth mentioning the significant fact that the highest paid athletes in the elite 25 are only men. Compared to last year , where we could find Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka in a 12-13 split.

Among the world’s highest-paid athletes in 2023, the elite 25 includes 8 basketball players, 7 golfers, 4 footballers and two American football players and two F1 pilots. There is also one boxer and a tennis player in the top 25.

It is worth mentioning that the 9th place is occupied by the tennis legend Roger Federer. He holds his position mainly due to sponsorship income and collaborations with, for example, the Uniqlo brand or a stake in the Swiss company On.

The highest paid athletes in the world in 2023:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lionel Messi
3. Kylian Mbappé
4. LeBron James
5. Canelo Alvarez
6. Dustin Johson
7. Phil Mickelson
8. Stephen Curry
9. Roger Federer
10. Kevin Durant
11. Giannis Antetokounmpo
12. Russell Wilson
13. Neymar
14. Russell Westbrook
15. Rory McIlroy
16. Tiger Woods
17. Cameron Smith
18. Brooks Koepka
19. Kyler Murray
20. Bryson DeChambeau
21. Lewis Hamilton
22. Max Verstappen
23. Klay Thompson
24. Patrick Mahomes
25. Damian Lillard

For a complete list and earnings of all athletes, see Forbes magazine’s rankings.

Source: Forbes , Twitter