Real Madrid icon Cristiano Ronaldo and Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James top Forbes’ 2017 top 100 earning athletes list in 2017.
The list takes into account an athlete’s annual salary and/or winnings from their respective sport and adds it up with their endorsement earnings.
Ronaldo tops the heap with a $93-million year, while James raked in $86.2 million.
Additionally, Lionel Messi, Ronaldo’s Barcelona arch-rival, came in third with an $80-million year, while the NBA Finals was well represented in the top 10 with not only James, but also the Golden State Warriors’ MVP duo of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry coming in at Nos. 5 and 8, respectively.
There’s no Canadian representation to speak of on the list, not even when it comes to the nation’s favourite sport – no hockey player made the cut.
The only piece of pseudo-Canadian content comes via Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan, who came in at No. 32 buoyed by the five-year, $139-million deal he signed with the club last off-season.
Ten sports are represented on the list: Soccer, basketball, tennis, football, golf, auto racing (Formula 1 and NASCAR), track and field, mixed martial arts, boxing and cricket.
Baseball was best represented with 26 ballplayers making the cut. Track and field, mixed martial arts and cricket had just one athlete each in Usain Bolt (No. 23), Conor McGregor (tied for No. 24) and Virat Kohli (No. 89).
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