The big news coming out of Forbes annual list of the 100 highest-earning athletes in sports is that a guy from the “dead” sport of boxing became just the second athlete to make more than $100 million in a year, as Floyd Mayweather saw $105 million this year.
But as Mayweather joins Tiger Woods -- Forbes says Michael Jordan, Michael Schumacher and Mike Tyson would’ve turned the trick if their earnings were adjusted for inflation -- are there any soccer players threatening to join the club?
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Glad you asked. Of the 15 soccer players to make the 100-person list, Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Portugal was a mere $20 million from joining Mayweather and Woods, making $80 million this year.
Who else made the list?
2. Cristiano Ronaldo, $80 mil
4. Lionel Messi, $64.7 mil
12. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, $40.4 mil
14. Gareth Bale, $36.4 mil
15. Radamel Falcao, $35.4 mil
16. Neymar, $33.6 mil
43. Wayne Rooney, $23.4 mil
44. Sergio Aguero, $23.3 mil
59. Yaya Toure, $21.7 mil
63. Fernando Torres, $21.3 mil
81. Robin van Persie, $19.5 mil
86. Steven Gerrard, $18.7 mil
89. Mesut Ozil, $18.5 mil
92. Franck Ribery, $18.3 mil
100. Luis Suarez, $17.3 mil
League breakdowns (2013/14 season)
Barclays Premier League - 8
La Liga - 4
Ligue 1 - 2
Bundesliga - 1
Team breakdowns
Liverpool - 2
Manchester City - 2
Manchester United - 2
Barcelona - 2
Real Madrid - 2
Monaco - 1
Arsenal - 1
Chelsea - 1
Bayern Munich - 1
Paris Saint-Germain - 1
The list will change a lot next year, as we can expect Suarez to leap up the list along with new deals for Angel Di Maria, James Rodriguez, Diego Costa and many others.
