Here is the list :

Rank Athlete (Sport) Salary Sponsors Total
01 Tiger Woods (Golf) $22.9m $105m $127.9m
02 Phil Mickelson (Golf) $9.3m $53m $62.3m
03 David Beckham (Soccer) $5.3m $42.9 $48.2m
04 Kimi Räikkönen (Formula One) n/a n/a $46m
05 LeBron James (Basketball) $12.5m $28m $40.5m
06 Floyd Mayweather (Boxing) $20m $20.25m $40.25m
07 Lionel Messi (Soccer) $12.5m $23.3m $35.8m
08 Kobe Bryant (Basketball) $19.5m $16m $35.5m
09 Roger Federer (Tennis) $10.1m $25m $35.1m
10 Fernando Alonso (Formula One) n/a n/a $35m
11 Alex Rodriguez (Baseball) $29m $6m $35m
12 Shaquille O’Neal (Basketball) $20m $15m $35m
13 Ronaldinho (Soccer) $7.5m $27.5m $35m
14 Valentino Rossi (Moto GP) $6m $28m $34m
15 Kevin Garnett (Basketball) $22m $9m $31m
16 Peyton Manning (Football) $17.5m $13m $30.5m
17 Cristiano Ronaldo (Soccer) $11.4m $18.9m $30.3m
18 Derek Jeter (Baseball) $22m $8m $30m
19 Ichiro Suzuki (Baseball) $17m $10.6m $27.6m
20 Lewis Hamilton (Formula One) n/a n/a $27.6m
21 Thierry Henry (Soccer) $11.4m $14.7m $26.1m
22 Maria Sharapova (Tennis) $1.9m $18.85m $21.75m
23 John Terry (Soccer) $12.1m $9.5m $21.6m
24 Michael Ballack (Soccer) $11.6m $9.9m $21.5m
25 Kaka (Soccer) $13.4m $6.7m $20.1m

Can you believe that?

What question me the most is that the number one and number two of the list are from golf sport.
Unbelieveable…. Golf is not so much popular compared to soccer or even baseball (this is based on my own opinion, correct me if I wrong).
So, how can they earn that much?

I think that most of these athlete got big sum of money from advertising, and if golf is not the most popular sport, then golf shouldn’t have much audience, and ultimately advertising will not effective. But the reality speak out the opposite. Are they aiming at high class consumer or what ?

Incredible.