Owen Chase May 29, 2025 at 8:28 AM No athlete made more money in 2025 than Cristiano Ronaldo, but he’s far from the only one cashing checks in the nine-figure range. Across courts, fields, and rings, this year’s top 15 earners combined for well over $1.5 billion! Most of it is driven by monster contracts […]
No athlete made more money in 2025 than Cristiano Ronaldo, but he’s far from the only one cashing checks in the nine-figure range. Across courts, fields, and rings, this year’s top 15 earners combined for well over $1.5 billion! Most of it is driven by monster contracts and sharp business moves. Check out the lineup, stretching from NBA legends and boxing champions to baseball stars with record-breaking deals.
Cristiano Ronaldo – Soccer – Portugal – $275M
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Cristiano Ronaldo leads the global earnings chart for the third consecutive time with a staggering $275 million. That total includes a $225 million paycheck from Saudi club Al-Nassr and $50 million from sponsorships, investments, and media ventures. CR7 is more celebrity than soccer player at this point, and he has turned that into cash flow. He recently co-founded a production company with “Kingsman” director Matthew Vaughn and streams sports content to over 75 million YouTube subscribers.
Stephen Curry – Basketball – USA – $156M
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Stephen Curry’s rise to No. 2 comes from equal parts game and brand genius. Of his $156 million haul, $100 million comes from off-court dealings, including a major extension with Under Armour’s Curry Brand. He’s invested in everything from hydration startups to women’s basketball leagues. On the hardwood, he still drains threes while mentoring future stars at Davidson, where he now serves as an assistant GM.
Tyson Fury – Boxing – UK – $146M
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Nothing screams “legend” harder than Tyson Fury still banking up to $146 million during a chaotic year that saw him drop two title fights to Oleksandr Usyk. Bruises heal, and earning $140 million for your troubles in the ring is a great consolation prize. The large sum was largely thanks to Saudi-backed mega-events. Tyson’s also got off-ring hustle starring in his own Netflix series, “At Home With the Furys.”
Dak Prescott – Football – USA – $137M
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This quarterback-turned-financial-play-caller knows how to read a market as well as a defense. First, Dak Prescott made history with a contract structure that paid him $127 million in salary and bonuses within 12 months. Next were endorsements with Jordan Brand and Lowe’s that added another $10 million to his name. He’s also building a gym empire in Texas via Crunch Fitness partnerships.
Lionel Messi – Soccer – Argentina – $135M
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To millions of people, Lionel Messi will forever be soccer’s GOAT. Naturally, his arrival in Major League Soccer wasn’t a mere player acquisition for Inter Miami but a transformative event for the league’s global standing. While his $60 million salary is a substantial figure, his endorsements with Adidas and Apple, alongside his own Mas+ beverage, earn him even more, around $75 million.
LeBron James – Basketball – USA – $133.8M
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After more than two decades in the NBA spotlight, LeBron James is still making history—not just on the court but also in his bank account. While his Lakers stint earned him $48.8 million in salary, the larger story is off-court. His production company, SpringHill, is scaling up through a major merger, and he inked a deal to become the first athlete turned Ken doll.
Juan Soto – Baseball – Dominican Republic – $114M
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Juan Soto shattered expectations after signing a jaw-dropping 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets—even by baseball’s high-spending standards. His on-field take hit $109 million. And thanks to the buzz he generated, the Mets’ ticket sales surged following his signing. At just 26, Juan’s popularity and endorsements by the likes of Call of Duty and top Dominican brands have made him baseball’s financial poster boy.
Karim Benzema – Soccer – France – $104M
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Following a high-profile move to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, Karim Benzema’s earnings exploded. He took home $100 million on the field, bolstered by a carefully curated off-field presence worth $4 million. Sponsors like Adidas remain loyal, even as he embraces a quieter lifestyle far from the European spotlight. Rumors now swirl about a possible shift to Major League Soccer as the 2026 World Cup nears.
Shohei Ohtani – Baseball – Japan – $102.5M
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Though his Dodgers salary is deferred, Shohei Ohtani still walked away with $2.5 million in earnings plus postseason bonuses. But the reason he made it to this top-earners list is his headlining brand power. Out of the total, $100 million came from endorsement deals across Japan and the U.S. That includes New Balance, Seiko, Beats by Dre, and a record-breaking Topps trading card sale.
Kevin Durant – Basketball – USA – $101.4M
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Kevin Durant’s Suns may not have made the playoffs, but his financial game stayed elite. His total earnings combine a $51.4 million salary with $50 million in off-court earnings through Boardroom Media and investments in Paris Saint-Germain. He even has a soon-to-debut Netflix docuseries. His tequila brand, real estate moves, and a collaboration with Fanatics round out a sharp portfolio.
Oleksandr Usyk – Boxing – Ukraine – $101M
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Titles are probably the second thing on Oleksandr Usyk’s mind when he’s in the ring. He has turned heavyweight boxing into a stage for something bigger. With $100 million earned inside the ring, largely from two blockbuster bouts against Tyson Fury in Riyadh, he marked his status as an elite draw. He’s a former undisputed cruiserweight champ who became a unified heavyweight king.
Jon Rahm – Golf – Spain – $100M
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A shocking defection to LIV Golf in late 2023 redefined Jon Rahm’s brand and bank account. His $90 million on-course payday came mostly from that deal, reportedly one of the highest ever signed in pro golf. All the controversy aside, the move allowed him to double his annual earnings and increase his influence on the global stage. Jon still rakes in $10 million from endorsements.
The “Greek Freak” is a nickname and a business model. Giannis Antetokounmpo pulled in $49.4 million on the court and another $45 million through a Nike partnership, movie rights, and recent stakes in other sports ventures. He’s leaned into storytelling and global appeal, with a Disney film about his family.
Scottie Scheffler – Golf – USA – $92.5M
Credit: Reddit
This Texas native has quietly become one of the most dominant players on the PGA Tour. With $62.5 million in tournament winnings, thanks to a historic streak of top finishes and clutch major victories, Scottie Scheffler is golf’s golden boy. He also earned $30 million in endorsement deals with Titleist, TaylorMade, and Rolex. All that money doesn’t change his minimalist lifestyle, though. He’s proof that marketability doesn’t require flash.
Deshaun Watson – Football – USA – $91.8M
Credit: Reddit
Despite an off-field history that raised eyebrows, Deshaun Watson still secured one of the NFL’s most lucrative deals. It has earned him $90.8 million in guaranteed money from the Cleveland Browns in the past 12 months. The contract’s structure front-loaded much of his salary into this period, which explains his leap into the top earners list. By contract value alone, he remains one of football’s highest-paid names.
‘Wildcard’ USC team is poised to catch college football fans by surprise
As things stand now for USC, the Trojans are a complete unknown in terms of the national consensus. In a way it’s an advantageous position to be in for the Trojan football program. Those who have been following the team this offseason know the work that the staff and players are putting in. This is […]
As things stand now for USC, the Trojans are a complete unknown in terms of the national consensus. In a way it’s an advantageous position to be in for the Trojan football program. Those who have been following the team this offseason know the work that the staff and players are putting in. This is a smoother run operation, and coach Lincoln Riley has done a good job of improving on some of the past areas of weakness that prevented his prior teams from achieving their full potential.
Even so, there is not too much that is ever guaranteed in this sport. Everything can be going right, and quite literally anything can quickly derail an entire season. That being said, it has been a while now since USC was able to string wins together at the expected rate. Particularly after the first season of coach Riley, many Trojan fans will be expecting to see a better win-loss record for 2025.
Because of how the more recent seasons went, however, and with all of the outside attention on the 2026 and 2027 classes, there is a great opportunity for the Trojans to catch the college football world off guard this year.
Plenty of USC talent on both sides of the ball
Particularly on the offensive and defensive lines, the Trojan staff has been doing what’s needed to be a more well-rounded opponent this year. Yes, there were many departures from last year. That is true and is the case for all teams nowadays.
The additions of Jahkeem Stewart and J’Onre Reed are examples of moves that are being somewhat overlooked by fans of other teams that will end up paying huge dividends for the Trojans in 2025. Factor in the inclusion of someone like Waymond Jordan and the wide receiving corps of Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane, and there is a lot more to be optimistic about how this USC team will compete than what many are letting on.
From High School Phenom to Campus Legend — How NIL Deals Are Reshaping College Basketball and Football Recruiting
Share Tweet Share Share Email The rules for college sports have changed a lot. Athletes used to have to wait until they turned pro to make money off of their fame. Now, they’re making money before they even get to campus. High school athletes, especially top basketball and football recruits, are becoming very valuable marketing […]
The rules for college sports have changed a lot. Athletes used to have to wait until they turned pro to make money off of their fame. Now, they’re making money before they even get to campus.
High school athletes, especially top basketball and football recruits, are becoming very valuable marketing tools thanks to NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rights. As the world of college sports changes, these young stars are trying to figure out a complicated new system where fame, money, and athletic promise all come together. NIL deals give young athletes a way to start their own businesses, build their brands, and become financially independent, just like https://casinosanalyzer.com/low-deposits/10-dollar-deposit-casino make it easier to get into online gaming.
“We Don’t Talk About Education Anymore”: Nick Saban Sounds Off on How NIL Has Negatively Impacted College Sports
Nick Saban has always been critical of the negative impacts of Name, Image, and Likeness, commonly known as NIL. It actually ended up being one of the reasons he retired from coaching. Recently, Saban talked about how we’re starting to see the harmful ramifications of the current system, just as he had been warning for […]
Nick Saban has always been critical of the negative impacts of Name, Image, and Likeness, commonly known as NIL. It actually ended up being one of the reasons he retired from coaching. Recently, Saban talked about how we’re starting to see the harmful ramifications of the current system, just as he had been warning for years.
It’s not that Saban is completely against NIL. In fact, he thinks it’s a great tool for players to use to gain leverage. But at the same time, he believes it has ruined the college experience.
Why? Because important things like education and development have seemingly been swept under the rug.
“So, I made the statement, ‘Is this what we want college football to become?’ And I got very much criticized for that. And now that it’s become that, a lot of people think it’s had a somewhat negative impact on things, like we don’t talk about education anymore,” Saban said on Pure Athlete.
The former head coach would go on to mention that, when he was at Alabama, the team had an 87% graduation rate. Despite this, people often claimed he had recruiting advantages and that he wasn’t teaching the right things. Yet clearly, Saban always emphasized academics.
Saban understood that only about 2% of his players would go on to play professionally, so he focused on preparing them for careers beyond football.
But now, Saban sees young players constantly trying to capitalize on NIL money rather than focusing on development and long-term success. Even more concerning, players who aren’t good enough to make it to the next level often fail to consider that reality. They see the money, assume they’ve made it, and settle.
“We changed that dynamic when we started paying players, and players were no longer going to college to see how they could create value for the future. But they were choosing colleges and making decisions about college based on how much money they could make. And when you change that dynamic, it changes a whole bunch of things,” Saban said.
It’s very true what the legendary college coach professed. We’ve seen players choose schools just to secure money, only to turn around and transfer elsewhere by season’s end.
Even a lawsuit has arisen between the University of Wisconsin and the University of Miami over defensive back Xavier Lucas’ eligibility and possible tampering. It’s felt like a complete mess. And it’s possibly because players are focusing on the wrong things now with NIL money in the fold.
But what’s the solution? Saban doesn’t know. He likes the new agreement that was signed to share revenue between all schools in a conference. Additionally, he thinks schools will need to start employing a marketing team that specializes in assigning a numerical value to a player’s NIL. Other than that, Saban doesn’t have too many ideas. Although, like many others, he thinks there has to be a system in place.
All in all, maybe Saban was right all along. Maybe NIL was never a good idea, and it has forever ruined the purity that college sports used to have. But one thing is for sure, there’s no going back now.
The decisions have been made, lawsuits are happening, and kids are collecting. Stopping it all now would likely create even more controversy than we’re seeing at the moment. Everyone agrees college athletes should be compensated to some degree, but so far, the implementation has been terrible.
The Ohio State football program is horribly mismanaging the new NIL rules
The Ohio State football program has prided itself on being at the forefront of NIL. They want to be a leader when it comes to handling NIL and how to fund its players. Early in the NIL era, they did a pretty good job of navigating the space well enough to win a national title. […]
The Ohio State football program has prided itself on being at the forefront of NIL. They want to be a leader when it comes to handling NIL and how to fund its players. Early in the NIL era, they did a pretty good job of navigating the space well enough to win a national title.
Now, the House settlement has changed how they have gone about things. Instead of still having NIL collectives help with money outside the school, they have brought everything in-house. That has caused them to miss out on some very highly-rated recruits in the 2026 class.
For some unknown reason, Ross Bjork has decided not to let the Buckeyes use the collectives they were using before in order to pursue NIL ventures. That means that from now on, all of the football players will be paid directly by them. That’s not an avenue they need to go down right now.
The Ohio State football team needs to change their NIL rules
While the Ohio State Buckeyes might think they are following the rules to a tee, they are actually leaving themselves at a disadvantage. Other programs are still leaving collectives open to help fund the rosters. Instead, Ohio State thinks they are doing the right thing.
That has made recruiting a lot harder on them, especially in the 2026 recruiting class. If they want to start landing recruits with more regularity, they have to change how they are handling NIL until there is more complete unity with the rules across the country.
Ohio State won’t get some of the blue-chip recruits that they are after unless they change what they are doing in the NIL space. Other programs are able to land some of the top recruits in the country, while Ohio State has to battle uphill to land some.
Ryan Day needs to fix this before things get worse. Fans have already started complaining, and the team needs to make adjustments to stay competitive.
Georgia football dominated the news cycle on Friday in college football once again, specifically with their latest commitment who decided to join UGA’s 2026 recruiting class. The news unfortunately wasn’t all good for Georgia on Friday, but a heartwarming interview from a recent commit made it that much better for Georgia fans. But let’s once […]
Georgia football dominated the news cycle on Friday in college football once again, specifically with their latest commitment who decided to join UGA’s 2026 recruiting class. The news unfortunately wasn’t all good for Georgia on Friday, but a heartwarming interview from a recent commit made it that much better for Georgia fans.
But let’s once again begin with the latest commitment for Georgia, which was just as big as any of the others this past week.
4-star CB chooses Georgia over in-state powerhouse
Another day means another commit for Georgia. This time it came from four-star corner Chace Calicut, who chose the Bulldogs over Michigan and in-state school Texas.
Calicut gave Georgia there sixth commitment in as many days, which is potentially the best recruiting run UGA has ever been on. This commitment also moved Georgia up to No. 2 in the Rivals recruiting rankings where they now only trail USC for the top class in the country.
Legacy recruit chooses Tennessee over Georgia
Recruiting is nearly impossible to predict nowadays, but legacy recruitments may just be the easiest to predict of all. Typically recruits like to follow in the footsteps of their family and play at Georgia if they did as well, but that isn’t what happened on Friday.
Not only did three-star EDGE Kedric Golston II not follow his dad and play for Georgia, but he chose to commit to SEC rival Tennessee. That means Georgia likely will play Golston at some point in his career, which will be a great opportunity to remind him of the mistake he made.
4-star commit Jae Lamar is excited to be a Bulldog
Four-star running back Jae Lamar announced his commitment to Georgia earlier this week. This was one of the biggest recruiting wins of the 2026 cycle so far based solely on the fact of how talented he is. But there’s another reason why UGA fans should be excited that Lamar is heading to Georgia.
After committing to Georgia, Dawg Nation interviewed Lamar about his decision. During this interview, Lamar became very emotional because playing for UGA was always one of his biggest dreams. This moment will be remembered by Georgia fans forever and will likely be the reason Lamar will be a fan favorite while in Athens.
$1.5M Nil Star Paige Bueckers Opens Up About Leaving UConn After Five Years
Before Paige Bueckers was picked by the Dallas Wings first overall in the 2025 WNBA draft, the forward played five years with the UConn Huskies under coach Geno Auriemma. She suffered season-ending ailments, missed another primary scorer for the season in one season before everything came together for her in the final season. The Huskies […]
Before Paige Bueckers was picked by the Dallas Wings first overall in the 2025 WNBA draft, the forward played five years with the UConn Huskies under coach Geno Auriemma. She suffered season-ending ailments, missed another primary scorer for the season in one season before everything came together for her in the final season.
The Huskies went on to defeat Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks to give Bueckers and some of her teammates a perfect farewell with the national championship win.
On Friday, Bueckers joined Deja Kelly for an episode on NILOSOPHY to discuss her journey with the Huskies.
“Yeah, I mean, as much as I love UConn, being there for five years was a long time,” Bueckers said (1:53). “And just being ready for the next chapter of your life—thank God I got to close it out the right way, and we all did that as a team.
“The journey that I went on through UConn—I wouldn’t trade it for the world, just because it shaped me to be who I am,” she continued. “It changed a lot of my perspective on things and helped me grow as a person, a leader, a basketball player on and off the court.”
Bueckers, who had an NIL valuation of $1.5 million (via On3), also spoke about her mindset entering her fifth and final year of her college basketball career.
“I kind of just made that decision before the season even started—that I was going to give everything that I had to this season,” Bueckers said. “Just give everything I had to it and be ready for the next chapter. I think having that decision made before I even started sort of is a weight lifted off your shoulders. It’s something you don’t have to worry about.”
While Bueckers still had eligibility remaining due to her injury redshirt, she naturally felt it was a perfect time to move on.
“It was really just—I don’t know—when you feel like something is over,” she added. “Obviously, you had one more season to play out, but you just feel like that was the last chapter to it.”
Paige Bueckers’ Role in Leading UConn to NCAA Title
Entering the 2024-25 season, Paige Bueckers was coming off multiple major injuries (missing her entire junior year due to an ACL tear) and saw UConn come up short in three previous Final Fours.
Bueckers’ role was important in ending UConn’s nine-year national championship drought. She led the team from the front during the NCAA Tournament. She tallied 34 points vs. South Dakota State, 40 vs. Oklahoma and 31 vs. USC to become the first UConn player with three straight 30-point NCAA tournament games.
In the national championship game, Bueckers scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished three assists. The Huskies crushed the Gamecocks 82-59 to win their 12th overall national title.
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