Forbes reveals the world's highest paid athletes of 2016

Posted Saturday, February 04, 2017 by givemesport.com

With Floyd Mayweather not taking to the ring in 2016, the legendary boxer has lost his place as Forbes' richest sportsman.

But Mayweather wasn't the only sportsman losing his place in the 10 with Tiger Woods dropping to 12th after a year crippled with injury.

Instead, Cristiano Ronaldo has been officially crowned as the richest sportsmen after a remarkable calendar year - becoming the first footballer to be the world's highest paid sports star.

The former Manchester United star raked in an eye-watering £70.4 million in a calendar year that he won the Champions League, World Club Championship and Euro 2016.

His incredible revenue came from his salary - which is around £440,000-per-week - his sponsorship endorsements and bonuses.

Like he did with the Ballon d'Or and FIFA's ‘The Best' awards, Ronaldo pipped Lionel Messi who was left trailing in second.

Although the Argentine is hardly going to complain at pocketing £65 million, though.

Here is the top 20:

1 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Football) - £70.6m

2 | Lionel Messi (Football) - £65m
3 | Lebron James (Basketball) - £61.9m
4 | Roger Federer (Tennis) - £54.4m

5 | Kevin Durant (Basketball) - £45.1m
6 | Novak Djokovic (Tennis) - £44.6m
7 | Cam Newton (American Football) - £42.5m

8 | Phil Mickelson (Golf) - £42.3m
9 | Jordan Spieth (Golf) - £42.2m
10 | Kobe Bryant (Basketball) - £39.9m

11 | Lewis Hamilton (F1) - £36.8m
12 | Tiger Woods (Golf) - £36.2m
13 | Eli Manning (American Football) - £36m

14 | Joe Flacco (American Football) - £35.6m
15 | Tom Brady (American Football) - £35.7m
16 | Floyd Mayweather (Boxing) - £35.2m

17 | Rory McIlroy (Golf) - £34m
18 | Russell Wilson (American Football) - £33.4m
19 | Sebastian Vettel (F1) - £32.8m
20 | Philip Rivers (American Football) - £30.4m

As you see, other than Ronaldo and Messi, there are no other footballers in the top 20. However, Messi's teammate Neymar comes in at 21st earning £30m.

Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes, who conducted the research, said: "With Mayweather hanging up his gloves and Woods hampered by injuries, there is an opening at the top.

"Filling the gap is the biggest star in the biggest sport on the planet. This year, soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo is the world's highest-paid athlete, with earnings of $88m (£70.4m) over the past 12 months from salary, bonuses and endorsements.

"Ronaldo is only the second team athlete after Michael Jordan to rank as the top-paid since Forbes began tracking earnings in 1990."