Their name is a brand. Who Forbes named the most expensive athletes in the world?

Recently we told you about Forbes‘ project called the Fab 40. American journalists analyzed the value of the most expensive sports brands, ranging from gaming clubs to the athletes themselves. “Championship” has already published a list of ten companies-majors at the end of 2019.

Now the sports stars are next in line. Indeed, the names of these people have long since begun to bring a lot of money on their own. How the brand “Roger Federer” ended up at the head of the rating and why Cristiano Ronaldo is worth more than Lionel Messi – in our selection.

Roger Federer

Sport: tennis.
Value: $62 million.

The Swiss tennis player seems to have broken into every possible top of the past decade. GQ recognized him as the most stylish man of the decade, and other publications have repeatedly stated that Federer makes the most money from sponsorship contracts than anyone else. Let’s not deny the overwhelming likelihood that this is true. That’s why his name ended up at the first position of the ranking of the most expensive brands in the “Athletes” category.

Roger’s off-court income is $86 million – which, according to Forbes, is 60% more than other athletes. He works with Uniqlo, Rolex, Credit Suisse, Mercedes-Benz and other major companies.

Tiger Woods

Sport: golf.
Worth: $33 million.

As a professional golf star, Woods became the first billionaire athlete in the world. But, it must be admitted, 90% of the amount Tiger earned not on the field, but thanks to advertising. For all the time of activity, which began in 1996, he received from sponsors $ 1.4 billion.

In 2019, the golfer returned to the top level again, winning the US Masters at the age of 43. It was Woods’ first victory at a major in eight years. In that time, many partners – Gillette, Gatorade, Tag Heuer – have turned their backs on the athlete due to serious injuries and scandals surrounding his name. Let’s see if he can continue to show his former technicality and gain the trust of the brands.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Sport: soccer.
Cost: $29 million.

Messi won the Ballon d’Or again in 2019, but Ronaldo overtook his counterpart in name value. Probably, in this Cristiano was helped by a favorable lifetime contract with Nike, for which the footballer receives $ 24 million annually. In addition, in the memory of fans still fresh memory of his transfer to Juventus, which put an end to a nine-year stay at Real Madrid.

By the way, when the Italian club launched the sale of Ronaldo’s signature shirt with their logo, only for 24 hours were sold 520 thousand copies. Revenue in 24 hours totaled more than $60 million.

Phil Mickelson

Sport: golf.
Value: $ 15 million.

Another golfer from our selection has earned $ 700 million in sponsorship contracts throughout his professional career.

In 2018, both Tiger and Phil raised the public’s ears by announcing a match in Las Vegas. As many golf fans believe, the personal confrontation between the two main rivals from the 2000s did not look so epic, because the former form will not return. But Mickelson received $9 million and a symbolic championship belt for winning the match after a penalty shootout.

Virat Kohli

Sport: cricket.
Worth: $ 14 million.

What you would not expect to see in the ranking is probably a cricketer. But Virat is a different story. He has been called a phenomenon and even a god in his sport. Last year, the athlete won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, Test Match Player of the Year and ODI awards.

And in 2017, Kohli made it to the top 100 highest paid athletes in the world, ranking 89th. His sponsors include such big companies as Pepsi, Audi, Tissot and Puma.

Conor McGregor

Sport: mixed martial arts.
Cost: $ 12 million.

As recently as a year ago, the fighter was not on this list, but in 2019 he managed to sneak into the last position. However, it was expected, because their confrontation with Khabib Nurmagomedov, which took place in October 2018, and everything that went on before and after the fight, made a lot of noise. And even before his return at UFC 229, McGregor renewed his sponsorship contract with Reebok, which brings him in at $5 million a year.

Now Conor is actively promoting his own brand of Proper Twelve whiskey.