Swiss tennis player Roger Federer may not be the No.1 on the ATP list anymore, but that certainly didn’t affect his earnings. Influential magazine Forbes recently released its annual list of highest-earning athletes that saw Federer claiming top position with $106 million pre-tax earnings in the past year.
According to the magazine, Federer earned just $6 million from tournament prizes while the majority of his money came in thanks to endorsement deals with companies like Mercedes-Benz and Uniqlo. These partnerships made him the first tennis player to be named the highest-earning athlete since Forbes started making this list 30 years ago.
Federer edged out soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi, who close out the top three. Ronaldo earned $105 million, with $60 million coming from sports earnings and $45 million from partnership deals. Messi, on the other hand, earned $72 million from soccer and $32 million from endorsements for a total of $104 million. Ronaldo and Messi shared the highest-earning athlete title between themselves in the past three years.
Despite not being in the top three, the basketball and football players dominate Forbes’ list. NBA stars LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant hold the No.5, No.6, and No.7 positions, respectively, while Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Giannis Antetokounmpo all made it to top 20 as well.
NFL is present in the top 20 by three quarterbacks. Minnesota Vikings’ Kirk Cousins is the highest-earning football player, banking $58 million in salary and $2.5 million in endorsements in the past year. He’s followed by Philadelphia Eagles’ signal-caller Carson Wentz with $59.1 million in total earnings and LA Rams’ Jared Goff with $49 million.
