

Her sponsors-Nike, Mastercard, Hublot and DAZN-push her off-field earnings into seven figures. The Norwegian striker captured the first Ballon d'Or Féminin in 2018, awarded to the best soccer player on the planet. Factoring in endorsements, along with all of the other male athletes around the globe in other sports, would push Biles well outside the top 1,000 overall. Biles made $6 million, and there were 865 athletes in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and Premier League combined that made at least that in salary alone, according to Spotrac data.
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Osaka and Williams cracked the top 50 highest-paid athletes, but dig a bit deeper, and the reality is that they would be the only two in the top 1,000 highest-paid athletes.
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The NBA’s TV deal is roughly 100 times greater than the WNBA’s, which is reflected in player salaries. “There’s a big push to invest in women in sports,” he said.Ĭompanies are certainly spending more on individual, team and league sponsorships for female athletes, but salaries remain a fraction of those in men’s leagues because the revenues are not in the same stratosphere. Osaka’s agent Stuart Duguid told Sportico in May that being a woman definitely made her more attractive to sponsors. Brands like Mastercard are looking to balance their sport sponsorships with investments in female athletes. That may not be NBA star sneaker money, but it is on par with what the biggest stars in baseball and hockey earn off the field and ice. Soccer stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, as well as skier Mikaela Shiffrin, all made at least $3.5 million from endorsements and cracked the top 10, per Sportico estimates. and global companies looking to take advantage of the LPGA’s global reach,” said veteran agent JS Kang, who heads up Epoch Sports Group and represents some of the top LPGA players Kang would not disclose any contractual details on his clients. “Korea continues to be a very strong market for both LPGA Tour players and for women’s golf in general, and lately, we have seen a steady increase in sponsorship support coming from large U.S. She lit the Tour on fire during her first decade, and by 2008, there were 45 Korean LPGA members. The LPGA Korean golf boom was launched by Se-ri Pak, who was the only Korean player on the Tour when she joined full-time in 1998. Total LPGA prize money is $73.3 million this year, up 77% in the past 10 years. The tennis downturn opened up room for a trio of South Korean golfers to make the cut, led by Jin Young Ko at $5.3 million, including $2.1 million in prize money. The result: Only 30% of the current 10 highest-paid female athletes make their living with a racket, down from 90% last year and 100% in 2019. The fewer events also triggered apparel sponsors to slash payments anywhere from 20-40% for most players. COVID-19 dented revenue and prize money at many events, while Wimbledon, with its expected $55 million purse, was canceled altogether in 2020. But tennis earnings are down across the sport outside of Osaka and Williams. The prize money is comparable to the men, and endemic sponsors like Nike and Adidas splash millions on the biggest stars to help goose their apparel sales. Tennis has always been the surest fire way for female athletes to make bank. “While she will continue to be a sports marketing force, some will tune her out, while others will turn her up.” “Osaka’s brand, while becoming complicated to many, remains compelling, especially in the current sports marketing era, one seemingly underscored by activism and advocacy as much as achievement and personality,” said David Carter, a principal of Sports Business Group, an industry consultant. Roger Federer, LeBron James and Tiger Woods are the only active athletes to earn more than Osaka from endorsements during the past year. 44 for earnings during the 12 months through May 2021. 15 among all athletes-male or female-while Williams finished No.
