Cristiano Ronaldo’s incredible salary at Al Nasr has ensured he is the world’s highest-paid athlete, with the Portuguese superstar beating Lionel Messi and Patrick Mahomes to the top spot in the Top 100.
Cristiano Ronaldo tops the Top 100 thanks to his salary of 175 million pounds per year at Al Nassr. Ronaldo is one of football’s biggest superstars and has earned a huge salary since moving to Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Pro League last January.
However, not only salary has brought Cristiano Ronaldo to the top of the list of the Top 100 highest-paid athletes in the world announced by Sportico. Ronaldo also has many advertising contracts, including Nike, Armani and Tag Heuer.
As a result, Cristiano Ronaldo earned a whopping £218 million in 2023, putting him at the top of the list of rich athletes. Ronaldo earned £57 million more than the second-placed man on the list, European Ryder Cup hero Jon Rahm.
The Spaniard recently joined the LIV Golf tour, after winning The Masters and Ryder Cup throughout 2023. Those victories ensured Jon Rahm took home earnings of £161 million and finished second. in the Top 100 list.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s formidable rival Lionel Messi was beaten to second place by Rahm, with the World Cup champion in third place. Lionel Messi pocketed £103 million in 2023, including a salary of £52 million per year at Inter Miami, meaning Ronaldo has more than double the income of Messi in 2023.
Ranked fourth is NBA’s brightest face LeBron James, who is paid a salary of about 36 million pounds by the LA Lakers. Huge advertising contracts have put LeBron James in the Top 5, with a 2023 income of more than 99 million pounds.
The third football player in the Top 5 is PSG and France superstar Kylian Mbappe, who is preparing to join Real Madrid in the summer. Mbappe was paid about £80 million by the Ligue 1 champions, with other contracts bringing Mbappe’s total income in 2023 to £99.2 million.
Mbappe’s former teammate at PSG, Neymar, is in sixth place after moving to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Hilal last summer. The Brazilian player is currently sidelined for a long time due to injury but still earns £96 million in 2023.
The bottom half of the Top 10 is dominated by NBA stars. Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors topped that group, earning £78.5m, to finish seventh in the Top 100. The remaining athletes in the Top 10 were Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (£70m) and Kevin Durant of Phoenix Suns (£68m) and the highest paid player in the NFL is Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs (£67m).
The first Premier League player named on the list is Erling Haaland when Man City’s Norwegian star earned £50 million last year, ranking 18th on the Top 100 list.
Top 100 highest-paid athletes in the world in 2023:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer) – 218 million pounds
2. Jon Rahm (golf) – 161 million pounds
3. Lionel Messi (soccer) – 103 million pounds
4. LeBron James (NBA) – 99.8 million pounds
5. Kylian Mbappe (soccer) – 99.2 million pounds
6. Neymar (soccer) – 96 million pounds
7. Stephen Curry (NBA) – 78.5 million pounds
8. Giannis Antetokounmpo (NBA) – 70.2 million pounds
9. Kevin Durant (NBA) – 69 million pounds
10. Patrick Mahomes (NFL) – £66.9 million
11. Lamar Jackson (NFL) – 65.5 million pounds
12. Karim Benzema (soccer) – 61 million pounds
13. Rory McIlroy (golf) – 61 million pounds
14. Tiger Woods (golf) – 61 million pounds
15. Max Verstappen (F1) – 59.5 million pounds
16. Shohei Ohtani (baseball) – £55.6 million
17. Canelo Alvarez (boxing) – 52.4 million pounds
18. Erling Haaland (soccer) – 50 million pounds
19. Lewis Hamilton (F1) – 49.2 million pounds
20. Max Scherzer (baseball) – £48.2 million
21. Damian Lillard (basketball) – 47.8 million pounds
22. Klay Thompson (basketball) – 47.7 million pounds
23. Mohamed Salah (soccer) – 44.4 million pounds
24. Anthony Joshua (boxing) – 43.6 million pounds
25. Russell Westbrook (basketball) – 42.8 million pounds
26. Nick Bosa (NFL) – £42.5 million
27. Viktor Hovland (golf) – 41.5 million pounds
27. Scottie Scheffler (golf) – 41.5 million pounds
29. James Harden (basketball) – 40.9 million pounds
30. Joe Burrow (NFL) – £40.9 million
31. Paul George (basketball) – 40.5 million pounds
32. Bradley Beal (basketball) – £40.1 million
33. Kawhi Leonard (basketball) – 39.7 million pounds
34. Luka Doncic (basketball) – 39.4 million pounds
35. Jimmy Butler (basketball) – 38 million pounds
36. Daniel Jones (NFL) – £37.7 million
37. Jake Paul (boxing) – 37.3 million pounds
38. Joel Embiid (basketball) – 37.1 million pounds
39. Brooks Koepka (golf) – 37 million pounds
40. Deshaun Watson (NFL) – 36.9 million pounds
41. Devin Booker (basketball) – 36.7 million pounds
42. Aaron Rodgers (NFL) – £36.4 million
43. Nikola Jokic (basketball) – 36.3 million pounds
44. Anthony Davis (basketball) – £36.1 million
45. Dak Prescott (NFL) – £35.7 million
46. Novak Djokovic (tennis) – £35.6 million
47. Trae Young (basketball) – 35.5 million pounds
48. Justin Verlander (baseball) – £35.3 million
49. Aaron Judge (baseball) – £34.9 million
50. Zach LaVine (basketball) – 34.7 million pounds
51. Cameron Smith (golf) – £34.3 million
52. Kyrie Irving (basketball) – 34.3 million pounds
53. Jordan Spieth (golf) – 34 million pounds
54. Gervonta Davis (boxing) – 33.7 million pounds
54. Kyler Murray (NFL) – £33.7 million
56. Carlos Alcaraz (tennis) – 33.5 million pounds
57. Jamal Murray (basketball) – 32.5 million pounds
58. Ryan Garcia (boxing) – 32.1 million pounds
58. Mike Trout (baseball) – £32.1 million
60. Donovan Mitchell (basketball) – 32 million pounds
61. Rudy Gobert (basketball) – 31.9 million pounds
61. Talor Gooch (golf) – £31.9 million
63. Jayson Tatum (basketball) – 31.8 million pounds
64. Tyson Fury (boxing) – 31.7 million pounds
65. Rashan Gary (NFL) – £31.6 million
66. Tobias Harris (basketball) – 31.2 million pounds
67. Chris Paul (basketball) – 30.5 million pounds
68. Ben Simmons (basketball) – 30.4 million pounds
69. Anthony Rendon (baseball) – £30.4 million
70. Pascal Siakam (basketball) – 30.1 million pounds
70. Russell Wilson (NFL) – £30.1 million
70. Sadio Mane (soccer) – 30.1 million pounds
73. CJ McCollum (basketball) – £30.1 million
74. Jrue Holiday (basketball) – 30 million pounds
75. Zion Williamson (basketball) – £29.8 million
76. Gerrit Cole (baseball) – £27.7 million
76. Corey Seager (baseball) – £29.7 million
78. Karl-Anthony Towns (basketball) – 29.5 million pounds
79. Carlos Correa (baseball) – £29.3 million
79. Josh Allen (NFL) – £29.3 million
81. Kristaps Porzingis (basketball) – 29.1 million pounds
82. Brandon Ingram (basketball) – £28.6 million
83. Riyad Mahrez (soccer) – 28.5 million pounds
83. Robert Lewandowski (football) – 28.5 million pounds
85. Chris Lindstrom (NFL) – £28.4 million
86. Dustin Johnson (golf) – 28.3 million pounds
87. Khris Middleton (basketball) – 28 million pounds
88. Kevin de Bruyne (soccer) – 27.8 million pounds
89. Michael Porter Jr. (basketball) – 26.9 million pounds
90. Orlando Brown Jr (NFL) – £26.8 million
91. Gordon Hayward (basketball) – £26.7 million
92. Stephen Strasburg (baseball) – £26.6 million
93. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (basketball) – 26.6 million pounds
94. Bryce Harper (baseball) – £26.3 million
95. Kirk Cousins (NFL) – £26.2m
96. De’Aaron Fox (basketball) – 26.1 million pounds
97. Miguel Cabrera (baseball) – £26 million
98. Bam Adebayo (basketball) – £25.9 million
99. Giancarlo Stanton (baseball) – £25.8 million
100. Derek Carr (NFL) – £25.8m
