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Tiger Woods is still by far the highest with $99,737,626 earned in the last year.
Quote:
Is the slumping economy finally affecting America's premier athletes? For the sixth consecutive year, Sports Illustrated has compiled a list of the 50 top-earning American athletes in salary, winnings, endorsements and appearance fees. And for the first time, the average earnings of those on the list fell -- down $1.5 million per athlete to $23.6 million.
That falloff is mostly due to lower earnings for No. 1 Tiger Woods and No. 2 Phil Mickelson, both of whom saw their on-course income shrink while also losing key endorsement deals. This year's list features 22 basketball players (a record nine who earned more than $20 million), 14 major leaguers, nine football players, three golfers and two NASCAR drivers.
Meanwhile, the average income of the athletes on our International 20 list of the top-earning non-American sportsmen hit an all-time high $29.5 million (up slightly from 2008), thanks to big gains by those in soccer and Formula 1 racing.
As we do every year, our findings consisted solely of salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearance fees. We consulted players' associations, tour records, agents and news reports. Our endorsement estimates came from Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing, other sports-marketing executives and analysts, and agents. Salary figures were based on current or most recently completed seasons (the upcoming '09 season for the NFL). For winnings-based sports (auto racing, golf, tennis), we used the '08 calendar year. Candidates for the U.S. 50 had to be American citizens and currently active in their sports. For an in-depth analysis of who made the 2009 Fortunate 50 and why, click here.
Damn, I used to play basketball with Rashard Lewis in high school. I should have hung around him more. I can't believe he's making over $17M a year from just basketball salary.
Big wow to Boston and Orlando. Those two teams entire squad are on the list. Those are two really expensive teams.
__________________ Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall. Torque is how far you take the wall with you.
****!!! 100M in just a year??? The first billionaire athlete? Tiger is only 33... and in golf you can be a 60 year old man still playing in pro tournaments. Tiger's got a ton of money left to earn.
****!!! 100M in just a year??? The first billionaire athlete? Tiger is only 33... and in golf you can be a 60 year old man still playing in pro tournaments. Tiger's got a ton of money left to earn.
+100000000000
if he plays half as long as Nick, Shark, Chi Chi, or Fuzzy he'll be a billionaire
__________________ Gun Totin' Liberals: Left of Center But Always on Target
What does Tiger endorse? I don't watch golf or care about golf. I know he wears Nike but what does he endorse that someone can afford to give him $92M and still make something for themselves?
__________________ Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall. Torque is how far you take the wall with you.
What does Tiger endorse? I don't watch golf or care about golf. I know he wears Nike but what does he endorse that someone can afford to give him $92M and still make something for themselves?
Lol. Tiger I can understand, he has Nike, the games, gillette, gatorate, etc. but how does Phil Mickelson, a guy with 3 majors, make almost as much money in endorsements than Lebron, Shaq and ARod combined???
You have to wonder how much a guy like Tiger (or any of these athletes) pays in taxes out of that $99.7M. In the end he probably doesn't save anywhere remotely close to it, which is why I wouldn't be surprised if it takes him longer than what most of us would expect to become a billionaire.
And +1 on Mikelson. I mean yeah he's good, but WTF?
They're entertainers. As long as people want to watch them, that has a value and they are worth money.
Thats an interesting subject you brought up... I'd wager that golfing deaths are higher than most think. Ive never worked a football/baseball/basketball death BUT Ive worked golfing deaths twice, granted they were older guys who suffered heart attacks.... but they were nonetheless golfing at the time. And I cant tell you how many idiots that love the game so much they do it in the rain....
Oh and as an aside, I once worked a death investigation of a guy 40 yrs old, that was the model of health. He ran everyday, ate clean, and was honestly in better shape than I was. I responded one day to him dead at the kitchen table, in his running gear (wife found him when she got back from work)..... you know what killed him.....?
He choked on a fcukn granola bar.... I swear on my life, I had to leave the scene because I couldnt help but laugh....
__________________ Gun Totin' Liberals: Left of Center But Always on Target
50 highest-earning American athletes
