Pro athlete endorsement deals are big business. From 2012 to 2019, 16 athletes each made more than $100 million solely from endorsements. The biggest endorsement deals tend to go to athletes who are well known worldwide.
One potential exception is Mahendra Singh Dhoni, No. 16 on the list of highest-earning athletes when endorsements are factored in. MS Dhoni, as he commonly is known, is a cricketer who captained India’s national team from 2007 through 2016. While he isn’t a household name across the United States, he is an international superstar. As a result, he snagged endorsements from brands such as Reebok and PepsiCo to the tune of $104 million from 2012 to 2019.
Overall, the list of top 30 pro athlete endorsement deals is dominated by basketball and tennis players. Collectively, athletes in these two sports occupy 15 of the 30 spots.
The sole track star on the list is the incomparable Usain Bolt, who comes in at No. 14. The fastest man in history earned $122.9 million in total income from 2012 to 2019, and $120 million of that came from endorsements. Since track and field isn’t a high-paying sport, Bolt has the highest percentage of income coming from endorsements among the athletes on the list.
On the other end of the spectrum is Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, No. 30 on the list, who owes the vast bulk of his income to his sport. Even though he earned $41.5 million in endorsements from 2012 to 2019, his total income was a whopping $324.5 million over that time period, higher than all but eight of his fellow athletes on the list. That means just 12.79% of Hamilton’s income came from endorsements, even though those endorsements totaled tens of millions of dollars.
At the top of the group are iconic athletes who earn hundreds of millions from their lucrative endorsements. From 2012 to 2019, seven athletes earned at least $200 million in endorsements, including superstars like LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
GOBankingRates analyzed data from Forbes’ list of top athlete endorsements from 2012 to 2019 to determine the biggest deals of the past decade. For the purposes of the list, athletes were ranked in reverse order in terms of total endorsements received over that time period.
Here’s a look at the top pro athlete endorsement deals from 2012 to 2019.
Last updated: Sept. 21, 2020
