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The Highest Pro Athlete Salaries, by Sport
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- Soccer sits atop the pay pyramid: Cristiano Ronaldo’s earnings headline a record year for athlete income.
- Record contracts span leagues: Shohei Ohtani’s $700M deal is the largest ever, while NBA and NFL pacesetters approach $70M and $60M per year, respectively.
- Outside the “Big Four,” top stars in F1, golf, boxing, NASCAR, and other sports also command eight-figure paydays.
The visualization above—created by Made Visual Daily using a variety of sources—shows the top annual salaries by sport. In the broader context, Forbes estimates the 50 highest-paid athletes earned a record $4.23 billion in the past year, underscoring just how quickly compensation is rising.
| Athlete | Sport | USD per year |
|---|---|---|
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Soccer | $234,304,000 |
| Jon Rahm | Golf | $100,000,000 |
| Canelo Álvarez | Boxing | $73,000,000 |
| Max Verstappen | Formula 1 | $72,000,000 |
| Shai Gilgeous‑Alexander | Basketball (NBA) | $71,250,000 |
| Shohei Ohtani | Baseball (MLB) | $70,000,000 |
| Dak Prescott | American Football (NFL) | $60,000,000 |
| Kyle Busch | NASCAR | $16,900,000 |
| Roman Reigns | WWE (Pro wrestling) | $15,000,000 |
| Fabio Quartararo | MotoGP | $14,058,240 |
| Leon Draisaitl | Ice Hockey (NHL) | $14,000,000 |
| Tadej Pogačar | Cycling (Road) | $9,372,160 |
| Faker (Lee Sang‑hyeok) | Esports (League of Legends) | $6,000,000 |
| Shreyas Iyer | Cricket (IPL) | $3,088,800 |
| Nikola Karabatić | Handball | $2,108,736 |
| Owen Farrell | Rugby Union | $1,593,840 |
| Wilfredo León | Volleyball | $1,400,000 |
| Zak Butters | AFL (Aussie Rules) | $979,800 |
| Kalyn Ponga | NRL (Rugby League) | $914,480 |
| Zach Collaros | CFL (Canadian football) | $436,080 |
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Ronaldo’s soccer salary towers at the top, while Jon Rahm’s reported LIV deal anchors golf at $100 million per year. MLB’s Shohei Ohtani leads baseball at $70 million average annual value, and the NFL/NBA leaders cluster near $60–$71 million per year; at the other end, the CFL’s top “hard cash” for 2025 is under $0.5M.
Ohtani’s contract stipulates $2 million annual salaries and $68 million to be deferred each year (without interest) to be paid in $68 million installments from 2034 to 2043.
Soccer’s Outsized Paydays
Ronaldo remains the world’s top earner and symbol of soccer’s commercial pull, topping Forbes’ 2025 ranking as the sports world sets another all-time earnings record. (For more on his on-field legacy, see our look at Cristiano Ronaldo’s Euro records.)
Guaranteed Riches in U.S. Leagues
Baseball’s mega-deals lead in total value: Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers is the largest in pro sports history, even if others out-earn him annually.
In year-to-year earnings, the NBA and NFL continue to push new records. Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is set to earn roughly $71.3 million per season starting in 2027–28 under his four-year supermax deal, while Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott’s recent extension averages $60M per season. In the NHL, Leon Draisaitl set a new benchmark with $14 million annually with the Edmonton Oilers.
Individual Sports and Emerging Categories
Boxing and golf remain lucrative at the elite tier. Canelo Álvarez’s 2018 DAZN pact set a $365 million benchmark for multi-fight guarantees, and Jon Rahm reportedly joined LIV Golf on a deal in excess of $300 million. Formula 1’s Max Verstappen is widely reported near the $70 million range with bonuses.
Newer markets are scaling fast: League of Legends icon Faker reportedly earns about $6 million annually with T1, while cycling’s Tadej Pogačar extended with UAE Team Emirates on ~€8M per year—record territory for the peloton.
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Explore related visuals on Voronoi: The Highest Earning Sports Teams per League.