Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 11:55 PM• Tim Cozijnsen • Last update: 00:09

Lionel Messi has regained the top spot on the list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, figures show Forbes announces. According to the American business magazine, MMA fighter Connor McGregor must cede his throne to the star of Paris Saint-Germain, with an annual income of 130 million euros now the highest paid athlete. Cristiano Ronaldo completes the top three behind basketball player LeBron James (121.2 million euros) with an income of 115 million euros. Neymar earned twenty million euros less than the Portuguese last year and can be found in fourth place in the list. McGregor tumbles from place one out of the top ten within a year.

Forbes annually presents a top 100 of the highest paid athletes in the world, of which the first ten are now known. This concerns the total income generated in a year, so salaries including bonuses and income from commercial activities. Messi was allowed to call himself the number one on the list for four years until 2021, but was overtaken last year by both tennis player Roger Federer and Ronaldo.


Top 10 highest paid athletes (Forbes
















athlete
Sports / club
Income
1. Lionel Messi Football / Paris Saint Germain 130 million euros
2. LeBron James Basketball / LA Lakers 121.2 million euros
3. Cristiano Ronaldo Football / Manchester United 115 million euros
4. Neymar Football / Paris Saint Germain 95 million euros
5. Stephen Curry Basketball / Golden State Warriors 92.8 million euros
6. Kevin Durant Basketball / Brooklyn Nets 92.1 million euros
7. Roger Federer Tennis 90.7 million euros
8. Canelo Alvarez boxing 90 million euros
9. Tom Brady American Football / Tampa Bay Buccaneers 83.9 million euros
10. Giannis Antetokounmpo Basketball / Milwaukee Bucks 80.9 million euros

The recapture of the number one position by Messi, according to the American magazine, is due to the new deals that the left leg has concluded. At the end of March, the star attacker signed a deal with the crypto company Socios, which transferred no less than twenty million euros to Messi. Furthermore, in June of last year, the former Barcelona player became the first athlete ever to partner with the Hard Rock restaurant chain, which launched a special Messi burger. The attacker also has a lucrative partnership with Adidas, Budweiser and Pepsi.

With Ronaldo in third place and Neymar in fourth place, there are three footballers in the top ten. The star Manchester United player derives much of his income from his huge social media reach. The Portuguese has 690 million online followers and, according to Hopper HQ, which helps social media users to develop their online posts, costs more than 1.35 million euros per sponsored Instagram post. Neymar teams up with Puma and Red Bull, and can be seen in the Netflix documentary Neymar: The Perfect Chaos† There are also four basketball players from the NBA, one American footballer from the NFL, one tennis player and one boxer in the list.

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