Photo Gallery. Historically, the sports world has been one of the sectors that pays the best rewards to its members, personalities like footballer Lionel Messi, American football player Tom Brady and basketball player LeBron James have amassed huge fortunes throughout their careers, so below we will show you the 10 highest paid athletes In 2021, according to the portal Mega.
It is no secret that the current Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically reduced sporting events around the world, it has been public and notorious to notice completely empty sports stadiums and arenas, however, some athletes have continued to fatten their already huge bank accounts.
In this sense, many athletes have completed a record year in their income, and in fact, both the soccer player and the highest-paid NFL player of all time have made a significant portion of their fortunes over the past year, mainly due to advertising and sponsorship contracts. by private companies.
Historical earnings records
The ten highest-paid athletes in 2021 generated total earnings of close to $1.05 billion in a single year, increasing their income by 28% over the previous year. Conor McGregor alone managed to raise $150 million from the sale of his stake in the Proper Twelve whiskey brand.
Other athletes such as Dak Prescott, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have earned fortunes in excess of $100 million. In Prescott’s case, his income increased thanks to a $66 million bonus awarded by his Dallas Cowboys.
NBA player LeBron James also broke a record when he became the highest-paid player in the NBA with $96.5 million. In addition, the cumulative earnings of the top 10 off-court athletes exceeded $512 million, an increase of nearly $100 million over the previous year.
Top 10 highest paid athletes in 2021
The following information was obtained from Forbes, which ranked athletes based on cash income, salaries and bonuses earned by athletes between May 2020 and May 2021.
On the other hand, out-of-court earnings are estimates based on approvals, licenses, appearance fees and cash collected from any other business that took place in the past twelve months.
Here are the 10 highest paid athletes in 2021:
10. Kevin Durant
2021 earnings: $75 million.
Sports: basketball.
Country: United States of America.
Kevin Durant is an NBA player who belongs to the Brooklyn Nets. Throughout his history, he was the NBA champion, world champion and Olympic gold medalist, and is currently considered one of the best basketball players in the world.
Off the court, Kevin Durant has ventured into several companies such as venture capital firm Thirty Five Ventures which has made an investment portfolio in more than 60 companies, notable among which are Lime, The Players Tribune, Robinhood, Postmates and Coinbase.
9. Tom Brady
2021 earnings: $76 million.
Sports: American football.
Country: United States of America.
Tom Brady is an American football player who belongs to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady has been the most valuable player in the professional league three times, owns seven Super Bowl episodes, and is considered by many to be the greatest football player in history.
Some of the companies sponsoring this new player are Under Armor, Aston Martin, IWC Schaffhausen, Molecule, UGG and Foot Locker Inc. Apart from this, Tom Brady has his own brand called TB12 that focuses on creating nutrition and training plans for high performance athletes.
8. Lewis Hamilton
2021 earnings: $82 million.
Sport: Formula 1 driver.
Country: United Kingdom.
Lewis Hamilton is a British-born Formula 1 driver. He has been a seven-time world champion with McLaren and Mercedes-Benz, setting several records throughout his career.
This pilot’s sponsorship has exceeded $20 million and includes brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Monster Energy, Puma, Bose, L’Oréal, Mercedes-Benz, Police, Sony, LG and Vodafone.
7. Roger Federer
2021 earnings: $90 million.
Tennis.
Country: Switzerland.
Roger Federer is a professional tennis player of Swiss origin, who has won 20 titles in international tournaments organized by the International Tennis Federation, reaching number one for several consecutive years.
This prolific tennis player has received major sponsorships from companies such as Nike, Rolex, Moët & Chandon, Mercedes-Benz, Wilson, Gillette, Sunrise, Credit Suisse, Lindt, and NetJets, in addition to owning his own sportswear brand called On Running.
6. Neymar
2021 earnings: $95 million.
Sports: football.
Brazil country.
Neymar is a Brazilian footballer who is the current striker for Paris Saint-Germain in the French Ligue 1. Throughout his professional career, he has emerged as one of the best soccer players in the world, with important accolades such as the Golden Boot and the Olympic Gold Medal.
This player gets a large amount of money thanks to his sponsors among them: Nike, Qatar National Bank, Bates by Dre, Red Bull, McDonald’s, Gillette, Honda, Puma, Mastercard, Panini, Air Jordan and Mattel.
5. LeBron James
2021 earnings: $96.5 million.
Sports: basketball.
Country: United States of America.
LeBron James is a successful basketball player belonging to the Los Angeles Laker NBA team, and currently one of the best basketball players of all time. LeBron is also known for his great business sense who makes significant investments in the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool teams.
In addition, he owns his own movie company called SpringHill Entertainmen, media company Unninterested, restaurant chain Blaze Pizza, and sports nutrition company Ladder.
4. Dak Prescott
2021 earnings: $107.5 million.
Sports: American football.
Country: United States of America.
Dak Prescott is a professional NFL player who belongs to the Dallas Cowboys where he plays as a quarterback. Throughout his career, he broke several NFL records and managed to lead his team to first place in the National Championship for several years.
This new player owns a sponsorship group that includes big companies such as DirecTV, Sleep Number, Pepsi and Seven Eleven. In addition, Prescott announced that it will make significant investments in the Walk-On restaurant chain.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo
2021 earnings: $120 million.
Sports: football.
Country: Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a soccer player who currently belongs to the Juventus team in the Italian league. He is considered one of the most complete players and scorers in the history of football, and has received important awards throughout his fruitful sports career.
Apart from gaming, Cristiano Ronaldo is distinguished by his passion for business, among which he stands out for Pestana CR7 hotels, clothing and footwear lines, gyms, video games, as well as significant capital investments in prestigious world-class companies, such as for example, Bayer and Apple and Volkswagen, Daimler Benz, Carrefour, Iberdrola, Telefónica, Adidas, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Pemex and Johnson & Johnson.
2. Lionel Messi
2021 earnings: $130 million.
Sports: football.
Argentina country.
Lionel Messi is a footballer of Argentine origin, who currently plays for the Barcelona team and has been listed as one of the best players of all time, receiving important awards throughout his history, such as football. The best player in the world, Laureus for global sports, and the best FIFA game.
Aside from signing with the Barcelona Futbol Club, Lionel Messi has important sponsorship contracts for a large number of companies, including Nike, Rakuten, Beko, Adidas, Huawei, Mengnui Group, Pepsi, Lay’s, Gatorade and Konami.
1. Conor McGregor
2021 earnings: $180 million.
Sports: UFC Combat.
Country: Ireland.
Conor McGregor is a mixed martial arts fighter and has been a multiple UFC champion in the featherweight and lightweight divisions. Although he is paid large sums of money for his fights, his main source of income is business and sponsorship of various companies including DraftKings, Roots of Fight, Dystopia and Proper Twelve whiskey.
Check out our list of the 100 highest paid athletes in 2021, by clicking Here.
