Studies. The 2025 annual ranking of the richest athletes by the American magazine Sportico, published Wednesday January 14, 2026, confirms the economic weight of the major North American leagues in athletes’ income. The highest paid hundreds accumulated 6.05 billion dollars (around 5.6 billion euros) in 2025, almost a quarter of which excludes salaries. Football, however, retains its global showcase with the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo who dominates this ranking for the third consecutive year. Three French people appear in the Top 100: footballers Karim Benzema (6th) and Kylian Mbappé, and basketball player Rudy Gobert (84th).
© SportBusiness.Club – January 2026
Top 20 highest paid global athletes in 2025
| Rang | Athlete | Sport | Total Revenue | Part sponsoring |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Port.) | Football | 260,0 M$ | 23,1 % (60 M$) |
| 2 | Canelo Álvarez (Mex.) | Boxing | 137,0 M$ | 8,8 % (12 M$) |
| 3 | Lionel Messi (Arg.) | Football | 130,0 M$ | 53,8 % (70 M$) |
| 4 | Juan Soto (DOM) | Baseball | 129,2 M$ | 5,4 % (7 M$) |
| 5 | LeBron James (USA) | Basket-ball | 128,7 M$ | 62,2 % (80 M$) |
| 6 | Karim Benzema (France) | Football | 115,0 M$ | 4,3 % (5 M$) |
| 7 | Stephen Curry (USA) | Basket-ball | 105,4 M$ | 47,4 % (50 M$) |
| 8 | Shohei Ohtani (Japan) | Baseball | 102,5 M$ | 97,6 % (100 M$) |
| 9 | Kevin Durant (USA) | Basket-ball | 100,8 M$ | 49,6 % (50 M$) |
| 10 | Jon Rahm (Esp.) | Golf | 100,7 M$ | 15,9 % (16 M$) |
| 11 | Lewis Hamilton (Gr.-Br.) | Formula 1 | 100,0 M$ | 30,0 % (30 M$) |
| 12 | Kylian Mbappé (France) | Football | 95,0 M$ | 26,3 % (25 M$) |
| 13 | Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) | Basket-ball | 94,3 M$ | 47,7 % (45 M$) |
| 14 | Rory McIlroy (Nigeria) | Golf | 91,2 M$ | 60,3 % (55 M$) |
| 15 | Max Verstappen (P.-Bas) | Formula 1 | 83,0 M$ | 9,6 % (8 M$) |
| 16 | Scottie Scheffler (USA) | Golf | 82,9 M$ | 38,6 % (32 M$) |
| 17 | Patrick Mahomes (USA) | Football. American | 80,3 M$ | 37,4 % (30 M$) |
| 18 | Erling Haaland (Norway) | Football | 77,9 M$ | 33,4 % (26 M$) |
| 19 | Josh Allen (USA) | Football. American | 73,2 M$ | 20,5 % (15 M$) |
| 20 | Justin Herbert (USA) | Football. American | 71,1 M$ | 15,5 % (11 M$) |
