Federer overtakes Messi to become highest-paid athlete

Roger Federer has become the first tennis player to top the annual Forbes list of the world’s highest paid athletes, overtaking footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Federer, 38, rose four places after earning £86.2m over the past twelve months, with approximately £81m coming through sponsorship and endorsement deals.

Ronaldo (£85m), Messi (£84m), Neymar (£77.5m) and LeBron James (£71.5m) round-off the top five, while boxer Tyson Fury was ranked as the highest-earning Brit, scooping £46.2m after reclaiming the WBC heavyweight title by beating Deontay Wilder in February this year.

Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton was ranked as the thirteenth highest-paid athlete in the world – two places behind Fury – after earning £43.7m in 2019-20.

Female tennis players have dominated Forbes’ annual list since it began

Last month, Naomi Osaka displaced Serena Williams to become the world’s highest-paid female athlete – earning £30.7m in prize money and endorsements over the past 12 months. Williams raked in £29.6m despite failing to win a Grand Slam title in 2019. Tennis players have dominated Forbes‘ annual list since the magazine began tracking female athlete’s earnings in 1990. Osaka and Williams were ranked #29 and #33, respectively.

Since 2010, Williams and Maria Sharapova had led the way among female athletes, making Osaka the first athlete to break the pair’s duopoly. Osaka, a two-time Grand Slam champion, has grown increasingly popular in Japan, securing deals with Nike, Nissan and Yonex in the run-up to the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games.

Roger Federer is the perfect pitchman for companies

– Kurt Badenhusen

Kurt Badenhusen, a senior Forbes editor, acknowledged that “the coronavirus pandemic [has] triggered salary cuts for soccer stars Messi and Ronaldo, clearing the way for a tennis player to rank as the world’s highest-paid athlete for the first time. Roger Federer is the perfect pitchman for companies, resulting in an unparalleled endorsement portfolio of blue-chip brands worth $100m a year for the tennis great.”

Disruption caused to the global sporting calendar is expected to impact athletes’ earnings throughout the next ranking season, with only Nascar and the Bundesliga returning since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The MLB was hit worst by the crisis, with only one baseball player – Clayton Kershaw – remaining on Forbes‘ list for 2020.

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos rounds-off Forbes’ top-100

Despite earnings falling amid basketball’s suspension, the NBA remained top of the list for the number of its athletes included in Forbes‘ rankings, with 35 players making the cut in 2020. The NFL came in second, increasing the number of footballers in Forbes top 100 from 19 to 31.

Virat Kohli was the only cricketer to make the list, earning £21m in 2019-20. Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos rounds off the top-100, earning £17m in salary and endorsements as Los Blancos won the Supercopa de Espana for the eleventh time in September 2019.