Contents
- Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid athletes
- The world’s richest sports teams
- The world’s richest sports leagues
- The world’s richest sports events
- The world’s richest sportspeople
- The world’s richest sports stars
- The world’s richest sports agents
- The world’s richest sports businesses
- The world’s richest sports sponsors
- The world’s richest sports media rights holders
The answer to the question “Who Is the Richest Man in Sports?” may surprise you. The title of richest man in sports goes to a man who is not a professional athlete.
Checkout this video:
Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid athletes
In 2018, Forbes released their list of the world’s highest-paid athletes. The top spot went to Floyd Mayweather, who raked in a whopping $285 million over the course of the year. He was followed by Lionel Messi ($111 million), Cristiano Ronaldo ($108 million), Conor McGregor ($99 million), and Neymar ($90 million).
The world’s richest sports teams
With the exception of a few European soccer clubs, the world’s richest sports teams are all based in the United States. The Dallas Cowboys, with an estimated value of $4 billion, are the most valuable sports franchise in the world, followed by the New York Yankees ($3.7 billion) and Manchester United ($3.69 billion).
The Los Angeles Dodgers ($2.75 billion), Barcelona ($2.6 billion), and the New England Patriots ($2.6 billion) round out the top six. All but two of the top 20 most valuable sports franchises in the world are based in the United States.
The world’s richest sports leagues
There are a number of different factors that contribute to making a sports league the richest in the world. Firstly, the league must have a large and loyal fan base who are willing to pay to watch their favorite teams play. Secondly, the league must generate a lot of revenue from broadcasting rights and sponsorship deals. Finally, the league should have relatively low costs, so that more of the revenue can be distributed to the teams and players.
Based on these criteria, the richest sports leagues in the world are as follows:
1) The NFL is the richest sports league in the world, generating an estimated $13 billion in revenue per year. The league has a huge following in the United States, with an estimated 70 million fans. Broadcasting rights and sponsorship deals are worth billions of dollars, and team owners are among some of the wealthiest people in America.
2) The English Premier League is second on this list, generating around $8 billion in revenue per year. The Premier League is followed passionately by millions of fans around the globe, and its broadcasting rights are some of the most valuable in world sport. Sponsorship deals with major companies such as Budweiser and Nike also add to its impressive revenue figures.
3) Rounding out the top three is Major League Baseball, which generates around $7 billion per year. Like the NFL, MLB benefits from having a large and loyal fan base in America. Its broadcasting rights are also very valuable, and it has lucrative sponsorship deals with companies such as PepsiCo and T-Mobile.
The world’s richest sports events
The world’s richest sports events are the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. These three events generate billions of dollars in revenue each year, and attract some of the world’s biggest names in sports.
The Olympics is by far the richest sporting event in the world, with a total prize purse of over $1.5 billion. The FIFA World Cup is a close second, with a prize purse of over $1 billion. The UEFA Champions League is a distant third, with a prize purse of just over $400 million.
These three sporting events are responsible for generating billions of dollars in revenue each year. They attract some of the world’s biggest names in sports, and provide an opportunity for athletes to compete for huge sums of money.
The world’s richest sportspeople
There are many ways to measure wealth, but for athletes, their earnings are often the most important factor. Forbes has released its list of the world’s richest sportspeople for 2018, and there are some familiar names at the top.
Floyd Mayweather tops the list with earnings of $285 million. The boxer, who came out of retirement last year to fight Conor McGregor, made $275 million from that bout alone. He is followed by Lionel Messi, who earned $111 million last year, with Cristiano Ronaldo in third place with $108 million.
here are some other notable names on the list:
-Michael Jordan: $93.5 million (7th place)
-Tiger Woods: $43.5 million (22nd place)
-LeBron James: $33 million (41st place)
-Roger Federer: $77 million (4th place)
The world’s richest sports stars
There are a number of ways to measure wealth, but for the purposes of this article, we will focus on the richest sports stars in the world. We will look at both their total wealth and their annual earnings.
In terms of total wealth, the richest man in sports is Michael Jordan. He is worth an estimated $1.9 billion. That puts him ahead of fellow NBA stars such as LeBron James ($1.4 billion) and Kobe Bryant ($1 billion). In second place is Tiger Woods, with an estimated fortune of $800 million. He is followed by Phil Mickelson (worth $400 million) and Cristiano Ronaldo (worth $230 million).
In terms of annual earnings, the list looks very different. The highest-paid athlete in the world is Floyd Mayweather, who earned an estimated $285 million in 2015. That puts him ahead of second-place earner Lionel Messi ($81 million), third-place earner Cristiano Ronaldo ($80 million), and fourth-place earner Roger Federer ($67 million).
The world’s richest sports agents
According to Forbes, the world’s richest sports agents are:
1. Scott Boras – $70 million
2. Leigh Steinberg – $45 million
3. Drew Rosenhaus – $40 million
4. Tom Condon – $35 million
5. Casey Close – $30 million
The world’s richest sports businesses
The world’s richest sports businesses are a mix of franchises, governing bodies, and events. The list below is based on the latest Forbes rankings of the world’s most valuable sports franchises.
1. Dallas Cowboys – $4.8 billion
2. New York Yankees – $4.6 billion
3. Manchester United – $3.69 billion
4. Barcelona – $3.64 billion
5. Real Madrid – $3.58 billion
6. New England Patriots – $3.4 billion
7. New York Knicks – $3 billion
8. Los Angeles Dodgers – $2.75 billion
9= Golden State Warriors – $2 trillion
9= Washington Redskins – $2 trillion
The world’s richest sports sponsors
We all know that sports sponsorships can be extremely lucrative, but just how much money are the world’s richest sports sponsors worth? That’s what we’re here to find out!
Topping our list is oil and gas company PetroChina, which is worth an impressive $1.6 trillion. In second place is financial services corporation UBS, with a sponsorship portfolio that’s valued at $1.3 trillion. Rounding out the top three is America’s National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), with a worth of $800 billion.
These are the world’s top 10 richest sports sponsors:
1. PetroChina – $1.6 trillion
2. UBS – $1.3 trillion
3. NBC – $800 billion
4. Coca-Cola – $700 billion
5. Adidas – $640 billion
6. Nike – $600 billion
7. Puma – $560 billion
8. Prada – $550 billion
9. LVMH – $520 billion 10. Murdoch’s News Corporation –$500 billion
The world’s richest sports media rights holders
The world’s richest sports media rights holders are a who’s who of global media conglomerates. The rights to broadcast live sporting events are some of the most valuable assets in the media business, and the companies that control them are among the most powerful in the world.
At the top of the list is Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, which owns the FOX network in the United States and Sky Sports in the UK. News Corp paid $425 million for the rights to broadcast the NFL in 1993, and earlier this year agreed to pay $1.1 billion for an eight-year extension of those rights.
Second on the list is Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal. Comcast paid $4.38 billion for the rights to broadcast NHL games through 2025-26, and also owns a minority stake in sports entertainment company NASCAR Media Group.
Disney, which owns ESPN, is third on the list. ESPN pays billions of dollars every year for exclusive rights to broadcast live sporting events from a variety of professional leagues, including Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and college football and basketball.
Fourth on the list is Time Warner, which owns CNN and Turner Sports. Turner Broadcasting paid $725 million for the rights to broadcast NBA games through 2025-26, and also broadcasts Major League Baseball games on its TNT network.
Rounding out the top five is CBS Corporation, which owns CBS Sports Network and Showtime Sports. CBS has broadcasting deals with a number of major sports leagues, including the NFL, NCAA, PGA Tour, and SEC athletics.