Sports Betting Blog

It’s no surprise that athletes & sporting personalities make a lot of money. We’ve been tracking the highest paid athletes for the last 2 years. What’s interesting about the stats is that no women appear in the highest paid list, so we’ve included the women separately at the bottom. Also another point to note is that this is a yearly sum, not cumulative.

If you’ve ever thought about taking up a Sport, then you might consider Golf. Golfers collectively make the most money out of any of the other athletes in our highest paid list.

Highest Paid in 2008

In the next two years Tiger Woods should become the world’s first billion dollar athlete with over $800 Million total earnings.

1. Tiger Woods (Golf): $115 Million
2. David Beckham (Football): $50 Million
3. Michael Jordan (NBA): $45 Million
4. Phil Mickelson (Golf): $45 Million
5. Kimi Raikkonen (F1): $44 Million
6. Kobe Bryant (NBA): $39 Million
7. LeBron James (NBA): $38 Million
8. Ronaldinho (Football): $37 Million
9. Valentino Rossi (Motorcycle Racing): $35 Million - F1
10. Roger Federer (Tennis): $35 Million - Tennis

Highest Paid in 2007

1. Tiger Woods (Golf): $100 Million
2. Oscar De La Hoya (Boxer): $43 Million
3. Phil Mickelson (Golf): $42 Million
4. Kimi Raikkonen (F1): $40 Million
5. Michael Schumacher (F1): $36 Million
6. David Beckham (Football): $33 Million
7. Kobe Bryant (NBA): $33 Million
8. Shaquille O’Neal (NBA): $32 Million
9. Ronaldinho (Football): $31 Million
10. Michael Jordan (NBA): $31 Million

Highest Paid Women in Sport

Interestingly the top 10 for women is made up of just 3 professions: Golf, Tennis & Car Racing.

1. Maria Sharapova (Tennis): $26 Million
2. Serena Williams (Tennis): $14 Million
3. Venus Williams (Tennis): $13 Million
4. Justine Henin (Tennis): $12.5 Million
5. Michelle Wie (Golf): $12 Million
6. Annika Sörenstam (Golf): $11 Million
7. Lorena Ochoa (Golf): $10 Million
8. Danica Patrick (Car Racing): $7 Million
9. Ana Ivanovic (Tennis): $6.5 Million
10. Paula Creamer (Golf): $6 Million