Cristiano Ronaldo rakes in £218MILLION to top a new list of world’s 100 highest-paid athletes [Full List]

A list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes in sport across the last year has been revealed with Cristiano Ronaldo raking in more money than any other athlete.

The Al-Nassr forward and former Man United superstar is at the top of the charts for his earnings including his eye-watering £175million-a-year deal at the Saudi Arabian outfit, and other lucrative sponsorships. 

According to the new list from Sportico, Ronaldo raked in £218m ($275m) – which included £47m from endorsements from the likes of Nike, Herbalife, Armani, Tag Heuer, DAZN and PokerStars, not to mention his own brand CR7.

No.2 on the list is LIV Golf rebel John Rahm. The Spaniard made £144m ($181m) from his earnings last year, having lifted the 2023 Masters before making the shock move to controversial Saudi-funded breakaway league LIV Golf, who are believed to have paid him around £400m.

Messi instead came in third as he took home a total of £100m across the last year. 

The other two were PSG star Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, both former team-mates in Paris. 

Mbappe collected around £80m in earnings, coupled with £20m from sponsorship deals and endorsements. While Neymar made £68m overall including £28m from partnership. 

2023’s HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETES 

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (football) – £218m

2. Jon Rahm (golf) – £161m

3. Lionel Messi (football) – £103m

4. LeBron James (NBA) – £99.8m

5. Kylian Mbappe (football) – £99.2m

6. Neymar (football) – £96m

7. Stephen Curry (NBA) – £78.5m

8. Giannis Antetokounmpo (NBA) – £70.2m

9. Kevin Durant (NBA) – £69m

10. Patrick Mahomes (NFL) – £66.9m

11. Lamar Jackson (NFL) – £65.5m

12. Karim Benzema (football) – £61m

13. Rory McIlroy (golf) –  £61m

14. Tiger Woods (golf) -£61m

15. Max Verstappen (F1) – £59.5m

16. Shohei Ohtani (baseball) – £55.6m

17. Canelo Alvarez (boxing) – £52.4m 

18. Erling Haaland (football) – £50m

19. Lewis Hamilton (F1) – £49.2m

20. Max Scherzer (baseball) – £48.2m

21. Damian Lillard (basketball) – £47.8m

22. Klay Thompson (basketball) – £47.7m

23. Mohamed Salah (football) – £44.4m

24. Anthony Joshua (boxing) – £43.6m

25. Russell Westbrook (basketball) – £42.8m

26. Nick Bosa (NFL) – £42.5m

27. Viktor Hovland (golf) – £41.5m 

27. Scottie Scheffler (golf) – £41.5m

29. James Harden (basketball) – £40.9m

30. Joe Burrow (NFL) – £40.9m

31. Paul George (basketball) – £40.5m

32. Bradley Beal (basketball) – £40.1m

33. Kawhi Leonard (basketball) – £39.7m 

34. Luka Doncic (basketball) – £39.4m

35. Jimmy Butler (basketball) – £38m

36. Daniel Jones (NFL) – £37.7m

37. Jake Paul (boxing) – £37.3m

38. Joel Embiid (basketball) – £37.1m  

39. Brooks Koepka (golf) – £37m

40. Deshaun Watson (NFL) – £36.9m 

41. Devin Booker (basketball) – £36.7m

42. Aaron Rodgers (NFL) – £36.4m 

43. Nikola Jokic (basketball) – £36.3m

44. Anthony Davis (basketball) – £36.1m

45. Dak Prescott (NFL) – £35.7m 

46. Novak Djokovic (tennis) – £35.6m 

47. Trae Young (basketball) – £35.5m

48. Justin Verlander (baseball) – £35.3m 

49. Aaron Judge (baseball) – £34.9m

50. Zach LaVine (basketball) – £34.7m

51. Cameron Smith (golf) – £34.3m 

52. Kyrie Irving (basketball) – £34.3m 

53. Jordan Spieth (golf) – £34m 

54. Gervonta Davis (boxing) – £33.7m

54. Kyler Murray (NFL) – £33.7m

56. Carlos Alcaraz (tennis) – £33.5m

57. Jamal Murray (basketball) – £32.5m 

58. Ryan Garcia (boxing) – £32.1m

58. Mike Trout (baseball) – £32.1m  

60. Donovan Mitchell (basketball) – £32m

61. Rudy Gobert (basketball) – £31.9m

61. Talor Gooch (golf) – £31.9m

63. Jayson Tatum (basketball) – £31.8m

64. Tyson Fury (boxing) – £31.7m

65. Rashan Gary (NFL) – £31.6m

66. Tobias Harris (basketball) – £31.2m

67. Chris Paul (basketball) – £30.5m

68. Ben Simmons (basketball) – £30.4m

69. Anthony Rendon (baseball) – £30.4m

70. Pascal Siakam (basketball) – £30.1m 

70. Russell Wilson (NFL) – £30.1m

70. Sadio Mane (football) – £30.1m

73. CJ McCollum (basketball) – £30.1m

74. Jrue Holiday (basketball) – £30m

75. Zion Williamson (basketball) – £29.8m

76. Gerrit Cole (baseball) – £27.7m 

76. Corey Seager (baseball) – £29.7m

78. Karl-Anthony Towns (basketball) – £29.5m

79. Carlos Correa (baseball) – £29.3m

79. Josh Allen (NFL) – £29.3m

81. Kristaps Porzingis (basketball) – £29.1m

82. Brandon Ingram (basketball) – £28.6m

83. Riyad Mahrez (football) – £28.5m

83. Robert Lewandowski (football) – £28.5m

85. Chris Lindstrom (NFL) – £28.4m

86. Dustin Johnson (golf) – £28.3m

87. Khris Middleton (basketball) – £28m

88. Kevin de Bruyne (football) – £27.8m

89. Michael Porter Jr. (basketball) – £26.9m

90. Orlando Brown Jr (NFL) – £26.8m

91. Gordon Hayward (basketball) – £26.7m

92. Stephen Strasburg (baseball) – £26.6m 

93. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (basketball) – £26.6m

94. Bryce Harper (baseball) – £26.3m

95. Kirk Cousins (NFL) – £26.2m

96. De’Aaron Fox (basketball) – £26.1m

97. Miguel Cabrera (baseball) – £26m

98. Bam Adebayo (basketball) – £25.9m

99. Giancarlo Stanton (baseball) – £25.8m 

100. Derek Carr (NFL) – £25.8m