Lionel Messi was the highest-paid sports star in 2022 – pipping LeBron James to top spot.
The World Cup winner is one of three footballers to make the Forbes top ten list, alongside PSG teammate Neymar and rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi has several big-money endorsements and now earns as much off the pitch as Ronaldo, whose Manchester United wage was cut in the summer.
Of course Ronaldo is soon to pass Messi after taking the proverbial sack with a dollar sign on it and signing with a Saudi Arabian club.
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The Portuguese maintains his position as the third highest-paid athlete of the year thanks to Conor McGregor dropping out of the top ten – the UFC star did not have a single fight in 2022 due to injury issues.
Other big names have slipped out of the top ten including Sir Lewis Hamilton, and that means there is space for four basketballers included – the most of any sport.
Kylian Mbappe, Tyson Fury, Max Verstappen and Tiger Woods all miss out, so who are the top ten highest paid athletes of 2022?
10. Giannis Antetokounmpo – Basketball – $A118m
The ‘Greek Freak’, 28, has pretty much an even split of on-court and off-court earnings and is the youngest member of this exclusive club – in fact he is the only one still in his 20s.
The 7ft star has played for the Milwaukee Bucks since 2013 and is a two-time NBA MVP, and boasts the best contract in NBA history as well as sponsorship deals with WhatsApp and Google.
9. Tom Brady – American football – $A124m
The NFL legend makes most of his money from off-field activity these days, with the NFT platform he co-founded last year, Autograph, raising $A250m alone.
Brady likely took a share of that as he raked in $A76m outside of his annual salary of £26m. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers star, 45, has also agreed a ten-year deal worth $A550m with Fox Sports to become a commentator once he retires.
8. Canelo Alvarez – Boxing – $A132m
The Mexican, 32, is the highest-paid fighter in the world. He collected $A58m from his fight against Bivol in April. Since this list was updated, he also earned a reported $A99m from his trilogy bout against Gennady Golovkin and will likely slide further up the list.
Alvarez is dwarfed by his counterparts on this list when it comes to earnings from endorsements and sponsors, though he does have a deal with Hennessy.
7. Roger Federer – Tennis – $A132m
In a complete contrast to Alvarez, Federer made almost all of his money from sponsors such as Uniqlo, Rolex and Swiss shoe brand On.
The tennis superstar, 41, hung up his racket in September after playing his final matches at the Laver Cup in London – which were his only appearances on court for the season.
6. Kevin Durant – Basketball – $A136m
The Brooklyn Nets hero, 34, brings in the majority of his cash from commercial deals and a business empire, with $A40m alone for wearing Nike trainers.
Other sources of incoming include Coinbase, Weepmaps, Boardroom, Thirty Five Ventures, an NFT platform and a digital fitness start-up.
5. Stephen Curry – Basketball – $A136m
No NBA player made more in salary this season than Stephen Curry, and his wage is set to rise further after penning a four-year deal worth $A314m with the Golden State Warriors.
Away from Golden State, the 34-year-old has an FTX endorsement which includes an equity stake and NFTs in three metaverses – although he pledged to donate the earnings – as well as a production company Unanimous Media.
4. Neymar – Football – $A139m
The Brazilian sensation earns $A1.06m-a-week at PSG and pockets a similar weekly amount through his deals with Puma and Red Bull.
Neymar, 30, also has a partnership with NFT platform NFTSTAR and was the subject of Netflix docuseries, Neymar: The Perfect Chaos.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo – Football – $A169m
Ronaldo experienced a tumultuous year which first saw his wages slashed before agreeing to cancel his United contract.
But Ronaldo, 37, did rake in $A81m in off-field payments from Nike, Herbalife and Clear shampoo while the Portuguese icon earns money from the likes of ZujuGP as the most-followed person on Instagram.
2. LeBron James – Basketball – $A178m
King James, 37, is one of the most famous sports stars in the world and his earnings on and off the basketball court reflect that.
He is one of only two athletes to break the £100m barrier, mainly thanks to his The Shop talk show, selling his stake in a production company and various endorsements including with Crypto.com.
1. Lionel Messi – Football – $A190m
Messi’s crowning achievement of the year will be winning the World Cup – but he was also paid handsomely and takes the title of highest-earning athlete of 2022.
The Argentine is paid $A2.1m-a-week by PSG and his deals with Adidas, Budweiser, PepsiCo and Hard Rock International means the 35-year-old made the same amount off the field ($A79m) as Ronaldo for the first time since 2013.
The rest of the top 50
11. Russell Westbrook
12. James Harden
13. Matthew Stafford
14. Aaron Rodgers
14. Tiger Woods
16. Josh Allen
17. Lewis Hamilton
18. Tyson Fury
19. Naomi Osaka
20. Damian Lillard
21. Deshaun Watson
22. Klay Thompson
23. Mike Trout
24. Patrick Mahomes
25. Kirk Cousins
26. Jimmy Butler
26. Max Verstappen
28. Paul George
29. Anthony Davis
29. Kawhi Leonard
31. Phil Mickelson
31. Serena Williams
33. Mo Salah
34. John Wall
35. Kylian Mbappe
36. Conor McGregor
37. Rory McIlroy
38. Marshon Lattimore
39. Devin Booker
40. Joel Embiid
41. Amari Cooper
41. Dak Prescott
43. Chris Paul
44. Ryan Ramczyk
45. Stefon Diggs
46. Jake Paul
46. Kemba Walker
46. Russell Wilson
49. Bradley Beal
50. TJ Watt
This story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.
