Sports
Highest Paid Athletes By Sport In 2024
Growing up, James was fascinated with watching sports. This led to an interest in research and stats and writing betting analysis for a variety of sports. James has graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business.
Get to know James Boutros betterPublished25 Feb 2025
The highest-paid athletes in each sport are not necessarily the best in their sport.
Some sports make more money and therefore the athletes also make more money.
Below are the highest-paid athletes by sport in 2024.
Highest Paid Athletes By Sport In 2024
Below are the athletes who made the most money in 2024 in their sport, including their salaries and endorsement deals.
Unsurprisingly, the athlete who made the most money in 2024 is a soccer athlete. Soccer is the most popular sport around the world.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo ($260 Million Earnings), $215 Million In Salary & $45 Million In Endorsements, Soccer
Ronaldo earned $215 million in salary in 2024, which is $70 million more than any of the other highest-paid athletes in their sport.
He also earns $45 million in endorsement deals. Ronaldo has endorsement deals with Nike, Tag Heuer, Clear Shampoo, Herbalife, Armani, and many more.
2. Stephen Curry ($153.8 Million Earnings), $53.8 Million In Salary & $100 Million In Endorsements, NBA
Outside of LeBron James, nobody is more popular or known in the NBA or possibly any American sport than Stephen Curry.
This is why while Curry made $53.8 million in salary in 2024, he earned almost double that in endorsements.
Some of the endorsement deals Curry is with are Chase, Nissan Motor, Rakuten, Sony, JP Morgan, Brita, Unilever, Vivi, Infiniti, and FTX.
Curry also has a major deal with Under Armour to compete with Nike’s Jordan brand.
3. Tyson Fury ($147 Million Earnings), $140 Million In Salary & $7 Million In Endorsements, Boxing
Tyson Fury is second on the list in salary earnings in 2024, earning $140 million in salary.
However, Fury only made $7 million in endorsement deals. This is the second-lowest in endorsement deal earnings out of any of the highest-paid athletes in their sport.
4. Jon Rahm ($105.8 Million Earnings), $85.8 Million In Salary & $20 Million In Endorsements, Golf
Jon Rahm is the highest-paid golfer, earning $85.8 million in salary and $20 million in endorsements.
Rahm previously played in the PGA Tour but now is signed with LIV Golf.
He has endorsement deals with Callaway Golf, Mercedes-Benz, Rolex, Santander Group, Greyson Clothiers, and Cuater.
5. Dak Prescott ($100.4 Million Earnings), $86.4 Million In Salary & $16 Million In Endorsements, NFL
While the other athletes listed in this article are either the best or one of the best in their sport, Prescott is not but is the highest-paid player in the NFL in 2024.
He earned a whopping $86.4 million in salary in 2024. This is because he signed a new deal in September 2024 and had a massive signing bonus. The timing of signing a new contract is a big reason why he earned $86.4 million in salary in 2024.
In 2025, Prescott will earn $47.75 Million in salary.
He has endorsement deals with AT&T, Nike, Pepsi, and more.
6. Max Verstappen ($76 Million Earnings), $70 Million In Salary & $6 Million In Endorsements, Formula One Racing
The Formula One racer earned a whopping $70 million in salary in 2024. However, he earned the lowest in endorsement deals among the athletes on this list.
Verstappen has endorsement deals with Heineken, Electronic Arts, and AlphaTauri.
7. Shohei Ohtani ($72.5 Million Earnings), $2 Million In Salary & $70 Million In Endorsements, MLB
The reason Ohtani earns $2 million in salary is the way his contract is structured. He signed a 10-year $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers but a lot of it is deferred. The MLB star earned a salary of $2 million in 2024.
Ohtani has the second-highest earnings in endorsement deals on the list. He has deals with many companies, including New Balance, Fanatics, Salesforce, Seiko Watch, and many Japanese companies.
8. Jannik Sinner ($72.5 Million Earnings), $25.3 Million In Salary & $27 Million In Endorsements, Tennis
Jannik Sinner is the number-one ranked player in tennis but he has been suspended for three months due to two positive drug tests in 2024.
Sinner has endorsement deals with Gucci, Nike, Rolex, LA Roche-Posay, and more.
He earned more in 2024 from endorsement deals than in earnings. It will be interesting to see if he loses any endorsement deals after his suspension.
9. Auston Matthews ($21.7 Million Earnings), $13.25 Million In Salary & $8.45 Million In Endorsements, NHL
Auston Matthews had a salary of $13,250,000 in 2024.
He also had $8.45 million in endorsement deals. Matthews has endorsement deals with Nike, Upper Deck, Fanatics, RBC, and Uber.
