The likelihood that you can earn a lot of money doing something is higher if you are good at it. Many people receive large sums of money for their talents, whether they are in the fields of science, entertainment, or sports in particular. There were some athletes who earned sizable sums of money in the previous year. This group represented a variety of sports, but those who played football, soccer, basketball, and tennis received the majority of the wealth.
2014’s highest earner was a boxer, not one of those other sports. Unbeaten professional boxer Floyd Mayweather earned more than $100 million in 2014, and not a single cent of it came from endorsement deals. Many of the other athletes on the list of highest-paid athletes made the majority of their income from endorsement deals rather than from salaries for their professional services.
Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, who competes for Real Madrid, was ranked second. Over the course of the past year, Ronaldo received over 80 million dollars in compensation, of which 28 million came from endorsements.
The third choice was a basketball player. Lebron James, also known as King James, earned a staggering 72 million dollars, with 53 million of those dollars coming from endorsements.
Lionel Messi, who is regarded by many as the best soccer player of all time, takes the fourth spot. Messi represents FC Barcelona as a forward. He made 64 million dollars in revenue in 2014, with 42 million coming from endorsements.
Basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who continues to command a significant salary despite declining play performances, is ranked fifth. He earned 62 million dollars this year, with endorsements accounting for half of that amount.
Tiger Woods, a legendary golfer, came in sixth. Tigers’ play has seen highs and lows, but his popularity has remained very high. This explains why, out of his 61 million dollars in earnings for the year, 55 million came from endorsement deals.
The seventh player was a tennis professional. In total, Roger Federer made $56.2 million, with the majority of that amount—$52 million—coming from endorsements.
Golf legend Phil Mickelson comes in at number eight. Only 5.2 million of Mickelson’s 53.2 million dollars in earnings were compensation for his golf victories.