January 17th, 2011 
admin Highest Paid Athlete List 2010 (Top 15)
Professional sports have become an incredibly lucrative profession over the past century of modern professional athletics. With popularity proving to increase dynamically year after year it makes one wonder “Who is the world’s highest paid athlete?” The initial answer is not a surprise, as he dwarfs his competition financially even with a net difference of 20 million dollars between 2009 and 2010, Tiger Woods is will not be surpassed anytime soon. Woods’ companions on the list are from a wide range of sports, with some surprises, and some might argue whom should actually qualify as an athlete?
| Name | Sport | Team | Earnings (salary/winnings, endorsements) |
| 1 Tiger Woods | Golf | n/a | 90.5 million (20.5, 70) |
| 2 Phil Mickleson | Golf | n/a | 61.6 million (9.6, 52) |
| 3 Floyd Mayweather | Boxing | n/a | 60.2 million (60, .2 ) |
| 4 LeBron James | Basketball | Miami Heat | 45.7 million (15.7, 30) |
| 5 Roger Federrer | Tennis | n/a | 43 million (n/a) |
| 6 David Beckham | Soccer | Los Angeles Galaxy | 42 million (n/a) |
| 7 (t) Fernando Alonso | Motorsports | Ferarri | 40 million (n/a) |
| 7 (t) Manny Pacquiau | Boxing | n/a | 40 Million (n/a) |
| 9 Alex Rodriguez | Baseball | New York Yankees | 37 million (33, 4) |
| 10 Shaquille O’Neal | Basketball | Boston Celtics | 36 million (21, 15) |
| 11 Vanantino Rossi | Motorsports | Ducati Marlboro | 35 million (n/a) |
| 12 Kobe Bryant | Basketball | Los Angeles Lakers | 33 million (23, 10) |
| 13 Peyton Manning | Football | Indianapolis Colts | 30.8 million (15.8, 15) |
| 14 Christiano Ronaldo | Soccer | Real Madrid | 30 million (n/a) |
| 15 Kevin Garnett | Basketball | Boston Celtics | 28.8 million (18.8, 10) |
The highest paid athlete without comparison is obviously Woods, with Mickleson nearly a full third less coming in second, but the worldwide popularity of motorsports, soccer and tennis clearly makes itself present on this list. Nascar is surprisingly not represented in the highest payouts, and the list would have to be extended to thirty before they would have a representative athlete. Motorsports’ highest paid athlete is clearly the Spaniard Alonso, breaking through for Ferrari after it had jettisoned Finn Kimi Raikkonen.
One seeming anomaly is the lack of representation from American Football and Hockey. This is largely due to salary cap restraints. Teams in the National Football League have in previous years, been limited in their ability to pay their highest paid athlete a wage higher than their cap space allowed. Matthew Stafford, quarterback for the Detroit Lions has the opportunity to make this list if his endorsements increase as he is being paid 26.8 million per year and has little or no outside income at this point. Represented on the list is the elder Manning brother, who is by no stretch the highest paid athlete in the league, but has made the most out of his myriad of endorsements. The National Hockey League has similar, but considerably more drastic restrictions. Only Vincent Lecavalier, center for the Tampa Bay Lightning, is paid 10 million in salary, making him the highest paid athlete in the league by more than 10 percent.
The National Basketball Association clearly has the highest representation of players on this list, and it would appear that the competition will become fierce in coming years to determine who will be the highest paid athlete in the league. Bryant and James are clearly the current face of the league, but bright stars are emerging, but with years of service being as much a factor for how much an athlete is paid as his performance. With that truth, we will see aging stars like O’Neal and Garnett continue to compete for the position of highest paid athlete in the NBA.
Clearly how much an athlete is paid is not necessarily about their success, but who they choose to compete against. Mayweather and Pacquiau could easily climb higher in 2011, should they ever actually fight. The payday would be tremendous, and the payout would undoubtedly be highest grossing pay-per-view event in the history of the sport. If that is the case we will most likely see one of these two pugilists as highest paid athlete in the world.
The other factor that is going to alter this list is the public perception of Woods. If he is continued to be maligned by the press and generally scorned by most of the country, he will lose endorsements in a precipitous fashion. Admittedly, his dominating play has also lost its previous luster, adding to the fuel for his endorsement contracts to be canceled or renegotiated, possibly removing his title as world’s highest paid athlete.
What this list shows us though is that if you are at the top of your game, more than likely you will be your sports’ highest paid athlete. This being said, long standing in the spotlight will often place you higher on the list. These men have certainly placed themselves on this list by work and cunning, utilizing both athletic prowess and utilization of marketing and public relations to capitalize. Woods is on top of this list, but his recent inability to use the previously alluded to tools, he may not be 2011′s highest paid athlete.
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The salary information for each sport and the overall was compiled through many internet searches. You notice that every website you go to, to find out who the highest paid athlete is, the top-10is pretty different. So we’ve used all of those places and compiled a comprehensive list. We also have some good writing to go with it. I’m glad people are enjoying it.
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