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by **Reg** » Wed May 06, 2009 2:56 pm

Ranking the 50 highest-earning athletes in the U.S.

Five years ago, Sports Illustrated first set out to find the 50 top-earning American athletes (taking into account on- and off-the-field income). We discovered a few basic facts, and as the Fortunate 50 turns five, some things have remained dead-on consistent:

No one can touch Tiger Woods, the runaway No. 1 for the fifth year in a row. Tiger's near $128 million haul is more than double his closest pursuer, Phil Mickelson at $62.4 million. As usual, hoops dominates the 50: More than half this year's list is made up of NBA players. There are 10 baseball players, seven football players, three NASCAR drivers, three golfers and one boxer -- and yet zero women.

Meanwhile, our International 20 list has seen a huge bump in average paycheck, thanks to the weak American dollar: 12 of the athletes earn their bread in foreign currencies from leagues outside the U.S. In the futures department, we tab the likes of Danica Patrick, Chris Paul and Joba Chamberlain to someday soon make the 50 in our Future Fortunates photo gallery.

As always, we limited our estimates to salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances. Candidates for the 50 had to be American citizens. For an in-depth analysis of who's on the fifth annual Fortunate 50 and why, click here.

NOTE: First value is salary, second value endorsements, third number total for year (not life... nor total value... just for the year)

1
Tiger Woods
Pro Golf
Last Year's Rank: 1
$22,902,706
$105,000,000
$127,902,706
With close to $800 million in total earnings on and off the course over his 13-year career, Tiger should become the first billion-dollar athlete in the next two years -- and he's still only 32. See Tiger's sponsors.

2
Phil Mickelson
Pro Golf
Last Year's Rank: 3
$9,372,685
$53,000,000
$62,372,685
Lefty's numbers jump thanks to an extra $2 million in FedEx Cup points in '07 and lucrative appearance fees for his first participation on the Asian Tour in Singapore and Shanghai. See Phil's sponsors.
3
LeBron James
Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: 6
$12,455,000
$28,000,000
$40,455,000
King James has earned $167 million during his five seasons in the NBA, and has his eyes on serious entrepreneurship: He counts billionaire Warren Buffett as a role model and friend.

4
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Boxing
Last Year's Rank: 21
$20,000,000
$20,250,000
$40,250,000
It's been a monster year for Pretty Boy, who made $20 million in purse and pay-per-view shares for his fight with Ricky Hatton and another $20 million for his foray into professional wrestling.

5
Kobe Bryant
Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: 5
$19,490,625
$16,000,000
$35,490,625
How's that for a change of tune? He once criticized his teammates; last month Bryant bought each of them $9,000 Swiss watches as a thank you for helping him win his first MVP award.

6
(Tie)
Shaquille O'Neal
Phoenix Suns (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: 4
$20,000,000
$15,000,000
$35,000,000
Shaq finally unloaded his 2.5-acre Miami estate last fall after having it on the market for more than two years. The buyer? Miami-native (and No. 7) A-Rod, for a reported $27 million.

6
(Tie)
Alex Rodriguez
New York Yankees (MLB)
Last Year's Rank: 11
$29,000,000
$6,000,000
$35,000,000
Assuming A-Rod plays out his new mammoth 10-year, $275 million deal, he'll have earned $445 million in base salary alone over the course of what would be a 24-year career.

8
Kevin Garnett
Boston Celtics (NBA)
Last Year's Rank: 7
$22,000,000
$9,000,000
$31,000,000
KG is the highest-paid of the Celtics' Big Three; at a total of $56.1 million in salary this season, the trio makes up 74 percent of the Eastern Conference champs' entire payroll in '07-08.

9
Peyton Manning
Indianapolis Colts (NFL)
Last Year's Rank: 12
$17,500,000
$13,000,000
$30,500,000
Hide the Lombardi Trophy. Football's leading endorser is still king of NFL pitchmen, but little bro Eli -- with whom he now regularly shares screen time in TV ads -- is creeping up fast.

10
Derek Jeter
New York Yankees (MLB)
Last Year's Rank: 8
$22,000,000
$8,000,000
$30,000,000
The Yankee captain cut a deal with the tax man in February that allowed him to avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes on his $13 million Trump World Tower condo.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more....ex.html

by **Reg** » Wed May 06, 2009 2:57 pm

A crash-course in foreign-exchange rates

The foreigners are gaining fast. At a combined $581 million, this year's rundown of the top 20 highest-paid non-American athletes is the heftiest we've ever compiled, and an increase of one-third over the previous year. Why? Sure, soccer and Formula 1 -- the two most popular sports away from American shores -- are beginning to pay off as well, and in many cases better, than U.S.-based leagues. But the weakness of the American dollar has never been on better display in the sports world.

Twelve of the athletes on this year's list earn their paychecks from foreign-based leagues. The British pound has been strong for years, strengthening the earnings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lewis Hamilton, John Terry and Michael Ballack (as well as Fernando Alonso who, until recently, was part of the McLaren racing team). But the distortion really takes effect with the athletes who are paid in Euros, which have gained 15 percent on the American dollar over the past 12 months -- that's why the likes of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and MotoGP god Valentino Rossi have seen significant bumps.

In all, this year's International 20 features nine soccer players, three Formula 1 racers, three baseball players, two basketball players, two tennis players and one motorcycle racer. As always, our list includes salary, bonuses, endorsement income and appearance fees. For the Fortunate 50 list of the top-earning American athletes, click here.

David Beckham
Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS), Great Britain
$48,200,0002

Kimi Räikkönen
Auto Racing, Finland
$46,000,000

3 Ronaldinho
FC Barcelona (Soccer), Brazil
$37,500,000

4.Lionel Messi
FC Barcelona (Soccer), Argentina
$35,800,000

5.Roger Federer
Tennis, Switzerland
$35,130,620

6. Fernando Alonso
Auto Racing, Spain
$35,000,000

7.Valentino Rossi
Motor Sports, Italy
$34,000,000

8. Yao Ming
Houston Rockets (NBA), China
$31,762,775

9. Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United (Soccer), Portugal
$30,300,000

10. Ichiro Suzuki
Seattle Mariners (MLB), Japan
$27,602,149

11.Lewis Hamilton
Auto Racing,Great Britain
$27,600,000

12. Thierry Henry
FC Barcelona (Soccer), France
$26,100,000

13. Maria Sharapova
Tennis, Russia
$21,758,550

14. John Terry
Chelsea (Soccer), Great Britain
$21,600,000

15. Michael Ballack
Chelsea (Soccer), Germany
$21,500,000

16. Ronaldo
AC Milan (Soccer), Brazil
$20,800,000

17. Johan Santana
New York Mets (MLB), Venezuela
$20,750,000

18. Dirk Nowitzki
Dallas Mavericks (NBA), Germany
$20,360,095

19. Kaká
AC Milan (Soccer), Brazil
$20,100,000

20. Hideki Matsui
New York Yankees (MLB), Japan
$19,000,000

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