Top Highest-Paid Athletes 2022 Rankings
The 2022 Forbes list of highest-paid athletes placed Lionel Messi at number one with estimated total earnings of roughly $130 million, combining salary and endorsements. Cristiano Ronaldo ranked second with around $120 million, followed by Neymar at about $105 million, and LeBron James at approximately $100 million, reflecting the continued dominance of soccer and basketball stars in global income rankings source.
Canelo Alvarez, the Mexican professional boxer, appeared among the top highest-paid athletes 2022 with estimated earnings near $46 million, driven by major fight purses and sponsorship deals. Other notable names in the 2022 rankings included Tiger Woods, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Dak Prescott, each earning tens of millions from a mix of contracts and brand partnerships source.
How Athletes Earn: Salary Versus Endorsements
For the highest-paid athletes 2022, endorsement income often exceeded salary, especially for global icons like Messi and Ronaldo who signed long-term deals with companies such as Adidas, Pepsi, and Herbalife. In many cases, off-field brand income accounted for more than half of total earnings, with athletes leveraging large social media followings to secure lucrative sponsorship contracts source.
Salary structures vary by sport, with NBA and NFL players receiving guaranteed contracts, while soccer stars like Neymar and Messi depend on massive transfer fees and annual wages paid by clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona. Boxers like Canelo Alvarez earn most of their income from fight purses and pay-per-view shares, with limited long-term team contracts compared to team-sport athletes source.
Sport-by-Sport Breakdown of 2022 Earnings
Soccer
Soccer dominated the highest-paid athletes 2022 list, with Messi, Ronaldo, and Neymar occupying the top three spots and earning combined hundreds of millions from wages and endorsements. European leagues, especially La Liga, Premier League, and Ligue 1, remained the primary income sources, with Saudi Pro League signings beginning to reshape future earning potential for aging stars source.
Basketball and American Football
In basketball, LeBron James led the highest-paid athletes 2022 from the NBA with total earnings around $100 million, supported by his Lakers contract and business ventures including SpringHill Company and Blaze Pizza franchises. In American football, Dak Prescott signed a record-setting contract with the Dallas Cowboys in 2021, boosting his 2022 income and placing him among the top NFL earners alongside Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers