Not a Single Woman is Among the World’s Richest Athletes

Even as professional sports become less of a men’s domain, earnings remain heavily concentrated toward male athletes.

The 100 top-earning athletes hail from 22 different countries and compete in 11 sports with Americans (66) and basketball players (40) the most prevalent. Over the last 12 months they banked a cumulative $3.8bn with 23% derived from endorsements and appearances,” writes Forbes in its annual list.

Oh, and the 100 richest athletes also hail exclusively from the male gender. That’s right, not a single woman managed to crack the top 100. Last year’s lone female representative on the list, Serena Williams, dropped out this year due to inactivity owing to giving birth last September.

This is the first time since 2010 that the list has featured only men. For what it’s worth, no NHL players are represented among the 100 highest-earning athletes here.

The top 10 below:

  1. 1. Floyd Mayweather ($285m)
  2. 2. Lionel Messi ($111m)
  3. 3. Cristiano Ronaldo ($108m)
  4. 4. Conor McGregor ($99m)
  5. 5. Neymar ($90m)
  6. 6. LeBron James ($85.5m)
  7. 7. Roger Federer ($77.2m)
  8. 8. Stephen Curry ($76.9m)
  9. 9. Matt Ryan ($67.3m)
  10. 10. Matthew Stafford ($59.5m)

Forbes’ list of the highest-earning athletes combines both salaries and endorsements. It should be noted that both the highest earner and fourth-highest earner secured their winnings by showing up to do their thing for like an hour. And that there are no women on this list.

Maybe the upcoming G7 Summit in Quebec can provide some equality.