Professional sports is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the entire world, and is collectively a multi-billion dollar industry. It takes a lot to become a professional athlete, regardless of the particular sport, and they are among some of the highest-earning individuals in the world. Professional athletes make their living not only from their contracts, but from a range of other revenue streams as well, predominantly endorsements. If you are one of the best players in the world at any sport, in particular the most popular ones, you will enjoy an extremely comfortable lifestyle. So out of all the various athletes in the world, which ones are making the most in 2015? We are going to take a look at a list of the top 20 highest-paid athletes in the world for this current year, and you will be blown away by just how much these guys actually make.
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20. Derrick Rose: $33.9 Million
26-year-old Derrick Rose is the first athlete that appears on our list, as he is set to earn some $33.9 million dollars this year. He is the point guard for the NBA Chicago Bulls, and is currently one of the best players in the league. Rose will make around $18.9 million dollars from his salary alone, and then an additional $15 million or so from his various endorsements.
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19. Jon Lester: $34.1 Million
Earning around $34.1 million dollars this year, and taking position 19 on our list, is American Jon Lester. He is a professional baseball player in the MLB that has played for a few teams since he began his career in 2006, and is one of the few pitchers that pitched a no-hitter. He is currently the starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, and he will be making most of his money from his salary, in addition to earning another $400,000 from endorsements.
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18. Gareth Bale: $35 Million
Gareth Bale is another individual that is among one of the highest earning athletes in the world right now. This native Welshman entered into professional soccer in 2006 when he played for Southampton. He would eventually make his way a year later over to Tottenham where he enjoyed a prosperous career. Then in 2013, Real Madrid acquired him and began paying him the big bucks. His salary will net him $25.5 million this year, and he will make an additional $9.5 million from endorsements.
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17. Fernando Alonso: $35.5 Million
Fernando Alonso is a Spanish Formula One race car driver who is one of the best in the world. He has won the World Championship twice now, and currently drives for McLaren-Honda. He’s secured 32 wins in his entire career and is set to make $34 million from his race winnings and salary and then an additional $1.5 million from endorsements.
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16. Ndamukong Suh: $38.6 Million
Ndamukong Suh is a defensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins. He was originally drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2010 and has just recently gone over to the Dolphins this year. Suh has won a variety of awards and titles over his career as weak. He has 239 career tackles, 36 QB sacks, and 1 interception. Suh made $38.2 million from his salary and winnings, and then another $400K from endorsements.
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15. Lewis Hamilton: $39 Million
British Formula One star Lewis Hamilton is one of the best drivers around right now, so it’s no surprise that he is one of the highest-paid stars as well. Hamilton currently drives for the Mercedes-AMG Formula One team and has secured two World Champion titles in his career, in addition to many other wins. This year, he made $36 million from his salary and winnings, and then an additional $3 million from endorsements.
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14. Zlatan Ibrahimovic: $39.1 Million
Swedish soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has had a great career throughout his lifetime, and is definitely one of the best players in the game right now. He plays the position of striker for the club team Paris Saint-Germain in addition to the Swedish national team, where he serves as their captain. This year he pulled $33.1 million from his salary and another $6 million from his various endorsements.
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13. Novak Djokovic: $48.2 Million
Novak Djokovic is a professional tennis player from Serbia who is currently ranked as the number one player in the world according to the Association of Tennis Professionals. He has secured a variety of wins at the Australian Open, the French Open, and Wimbledon over the years and saw $17.2 million from winnings and another $31 million from endorsements this year.
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12. Rory McIlroy: $48.3 Million
North Irish golfing legend Rory McIlroy has quickly become one of the best players in the game, and many consider him to be the best golfer currently out there. At only 26 years of age, he is one of the youngest players in the history of the sport to succeed so well. He has 18 career tournament wins, including 11 PGA Tour wins. He is set to make $16.3 million from winnings and then an additional $32 million from endorsements in 2015.
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11. Ben Roethlisberger: $48.9 Million
Ben Roethlisberger, aka “Big Ben”, as most of use know, is a professional NFL quarterback that plays form the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a first round pick by the Steelers back in 2004, and has remained with the team ever since. He carried his team to secure two Superbowl wins and has 39,057 career passing yards, among many other awards and notable stats. He saw some $46.4 million from his NFL salary and winnings and another $2.5 million from endorsements.
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10. Kobe Bryant: $49.5 Million
Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant is one of the best athletes to ever play basketball, and is also one of the highest-paid athletes for this year. He’s a 17-time All-Star, 15-time All-NBA, and has seen 5 NBA Championship wins in his career. He pulled a cool $23.5 million from his salary and another $26 million from endorsements. It pays well when Nike makes a shoe with your name on it.
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9. Tiger Woods: $50.6 Million
Even though golfing legend Tiger Woods hasn’t been playing very well for a considerable amount of time now, he is still the 9th highest-paid athlete in 2015. I probably don’t need to go into too much detail about the man, as most are probably familiar with Woods. He only made just $600K from winnings this year, but secured another $50 million from endorsements.
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8. Phil Mickelson: $50.8 Million
We have another golfing legend up next on our list, and this time its Phil Mickelson. Phil has always been a great golfer, and went pro back in 1992. Since then he has managed to secure 51 professional wins, including 42 wins on the PGA Tour. He made $2.8 million from winnings in addition to $48 million from endorsements, further proving that endorsements are truly the way to go if you want to make a lot of money as a professional athlete.
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7. Kevin Durant: $54.1 Million
Small forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, was ranked as the 7th highest-paid athlete this year. Kevin was first drafted as a 1st-round, 2nd-overall pick back in 2007 and has certainly made a name for himself over the years. In 2014 he was ranked as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, and has won many awards throughout his career. KD picked up $19.1 million from his large salary, and then another $35 million from endorsements this year.
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6. LeBron James: $64.8 Million
Regardless if you love him or hate him, LeBron James is still easily one of the best athletes to ever play the game of basketball. He was drafted by the Cavs is 2003 before heading over to Miami in 2010, and is now back playing for Cleveland. He’s won many awards including two NBA Championship wins and made $20.8 million from his salary and $44 million from endorsements. While the Cavaliers didn’t win it this year, LeBron is still doing pretty good for himself.
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5. Roger Federer: $67 Million
Swiss professional tennis player Roger Federer comes in at number five, having pulled around $67 million dollars in 2015. Only $9 million or so of that figure comes from tennis winnings, while the remaining $58 million comes from endorsements. Roger when pro in 1998, and ever since 2002 had been ranked within the top ten best tennis players of all time (currently ranked number two).
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4. Lionel Messi: $73.8 Million
Many individuals, myself included, would consider Leo Messi to not only be the greatest soccer player alive, but the greatest player who ever lived. Hailing from Argentina, Messi plays for both the Argentinian national team and FC Barcelona. He’s won countless awards over his career, and watching him play is truly a treat. When you’re the best-of-the-best at something, specifically sports, you’ll make a lot of money. In 2015 he earned $51.8 million from his salary and $22 million from endorsements.
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3. Cristiano Ronaldo: $79.6 Million
Hailing from Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo is another soccer player that many consider to be the greatest alive, if not the greatest of all-time. Like Messi, he’s won many awards over his career and is one of the best around. He plays for FC Barcelona’s rival team, Real Madrid, when he’s not leading the Portuguese national team. This year he saw $52.6 million from his salary, and $27 million from endorsements which makes him the highest-paid soccer player currently.
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2. Manny Pacquiao: $160 Million
World champion professional boxer, Manny Pacquiao, comes in at number two on our list. Considered one of the greats, and the first and only eight-divison world champion in the history of the sport, Manny Pacquiao made quite a lot of money this year. The majority of his earnings this year came from one specific fight against the next member on our list.
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1. Floyd Mayweather: $300 Million
Holding down the number one spot as the highest-paid athlete this year is Floyd Mayweather. As a professional boxer, he has won eleven world titles and is a five-division world champion. In his entire career he has won 48 fights and is still undefeated. $285 million of his total net income this year came from winnings while $15 million came from endorsements. That’s why he’s earned the nickname “money”.
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