HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETES IN THE WORLD: RONALDO SCORES $275M IN 2023

All eyes are on Las Vegas this week as the world’s richest sports league takes center stage with the Super Bowl. The NFL is a financial juggernaut by almost any metric, including record sponsorships, franchises worth $5.1 billion on average and 93 of the top 100 broadcasts on TV in 2023.

But when it comes to athlete earnings, NFL players can’t touch their global football counterparts. Soccer stars represent four of the six highest-paid athletes on the planet, as well as seven of the top 25—the NFL lands just two inside the top 25 (Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson).

Cristiano Ronaldo leads the way with $275 million, thanks to the richest on-field contract in sports and an off-field endorsement portfolio befitting a person with 620 million Instagram followers. Rounding out the top five: Jon Rahm ($203 million), Lionel Messi ($130 million), LeBron James ($125.7) and Kylian Mbappé ($125 million), based on estimated earnings for 2023 through Dec. 31.