Top 100 Sports Stars with Jaw-Dropping Salaries｜Who Else is There Besides Ronaldo and Messi?

Ronaldo is indeed number one in salary

A few days ago, it was reported that Ronaldo has agreed to a two-year contract renewal with Al Nassr. His salary amounts to £178M, with a signing bonus of £24.5M and a second-year bonus increased to £38M, along with a mention of a 15% club equity condition. The scale of these amounts feels almost unreal.

In just one hour, he earns nearly the annual salary of an average office worker. It’s hard to grasp the reality just by looking at the numbers.

Overview of the top 100 sports stars’ salaries as of 2024

The top 100 sports stars in the world come from 8 different sports and represent 27 countries. The total income, including salaries, tournament prizes, and sponsorship earnings, reaches $6.2B. Unfortunately, no female athletes made it to this top 100 list. The number one salary belongs to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Top snapshot (1-25): Curry, Fury, LeBron, and Ronaldo

• 1st: Cristiano Ronaldo — $260M
• 2nd: Stephen Curry — $153.8M
• 3rd: Tyson Fury — $147M
• 5th: LeBron James — $133.2M

Highlights of football players’ salary rankings

Football players ranked 26-50

• Tied 38th: Mohamed Salah — $55M (approximately 74.7 billion won), Liverpool
• Tied 38th: Vinicius Jr. — $55M (approximately 74.7 billion won), Real Madrid
• 44th: Riyad Mahrez — $52M (approximately 70.6 billion won), Al Ahli

Football players ranked 51-75

• 67th: Sadio Mane — $45.5M (approximately 61.8 billion won), Al Nassr

Football players ranked 76-100

• 81st: Harry Kane — $42M (approximately 57 billion won), Bayern Munich
• 89th: Kevin De Bruyne — $39.5M (approximately 53.6 billion won), Manchester City (Note: There have been mentions of ‘currently in Italy, Napoli’ due to recent transfer issues)

A total of 12 football players in the TOP 100

Included players: Ronaldo(1), Messi(4), Neymar(6), Benzema(8), Mbappe(9), Haaland(24), Salah(tied 38), Vinicius(tied 38), Mahrez(44), Mane(67), Harry Kane(81), Kevin De Bruyne(89)

Distribution by sport

• NBA: 36 players
• NFL: 22 players
• Football: 12 players
• MLB: 11 players
• Golf: 9 players
• Boxing: 6 players
• F1: 2 players
• Tennis: 2 players

MLB highest salary top line

The highest-paid player in Major League Baseball is Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers) with $72.5M (approximately 98.5 billion won). Following him are Yamamoto, Max Scherzer, Aaron Judge, Justin Verlander, Jose Altuve, Mike Trout, Jacob deGrom, Corey Seager, Gerrit Cole, and Anthony Rendon.