For three consecutive years, Cristiano Ronaldo has earned over $200 million, dominating the athlete income rankings.

Written by Han Bing. The American sports finance online media Sportico recently published its 2025 ranking of the top 100 highest-earning athletes. Ronaldo, who receives a post-tax annual salary over $200 million at Al Nassr, had total earnings of $260 million last year, securing the top spot for three consecutive years and rightly called the "world's richest athlete" in the sports world.

Sportico is a renowned American sports finance online media launched in June 2020 by the Penske Media Corporation, which owns major U.S. cultural and entertainment outlets like Variety, Rolling Stone, and Billboard. The group also hosts prestigious awards such as the Golden Globe Awards and the Billboard Music Awards. Sportico's "Top 100 Highest-Earning Athletes" list began in 2021; although it is not as historic as Forbes, it has gradually established its authority in recent years.

In the inaugural 2021 list, Messi ranked second with $126 million, while Ronaldo was third, just $6 million behind Messi. The "world's richest" athlete that year was Irish MMA superstar Conor McGregor. In 2022, Messi ($122 million), Ronaldo ($115 million), and Neymar ($103 million) held second to fourth places respectively, with NBA star LeBron James ($127 million) topping the list.

However, at the end of 2022, after Ronaldo joined Al Nassr with a staggering post-tax salary of $200 million, the Portuguese star claimed the "world's richest athlete" title for three consecutive years: in 2023, Ronaldo earned $275 million, followed by golfer Jon Rahm with $203 million, and Messi, who joined Inter Miami that summer, earned $130 million; in 2024, Ronaldo remained first with $260 million, NBA star Stephen Curry ($154 million) and British boxing champion Tyson Fury ($147 million) ranked second and third, while Messi's income grew by $5 million but dropped to fourth place; this year, Ronaldo is still number one ($260 million), Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez ranks second ($137 million), and Messi is third ($130 million).

Ronaldo's three-year dominance is largely due to his fixed post-tax salary of at least $200 million. Even without counting his $60 million commercial earnings, he would still be first. But if ranking athletes by commercial income alone, Ronaldo ($60 million) falls to fourth place, Messi ($70 million) moves up to third, LeBron James ($80 million) is second, and topping the list is MLB star Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers with $100 million. In some ways, commercial earnings better reflect a star's market value compared to their salary, which can vary greatly due to different capital backgrounds.

During Ronaldo's five years on the list, his peak annual commercial income was $60 million, while Messi's doubled from $35 million in 2021 to a peak of $75 million. Stars in other sports have even more impressive commercial values; MMA star Conor McGregor earned $180 million in commercial income in 2021. In the past two years, several sports superstars have reached commercial incomes in the hundred-million range: last year it was NBA star Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), and this year MLB star Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers). Additionally, LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) has maintained commercial earnings above $80 million for four consecutive years. Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer also earned over $80 million in commercial income in 2021 and 2022. For the football world, these levels of commercial income remain difficult to match.

However, with ongoing investment from Saudi oil capital and the rapid growth of North American soccer, even after the Messi-Ronaldo era ends, football superstars are still very likely to dominate the rankings. After all, Saudi clubs offer ultra-high salaries starting at $100 million, enough to place football stars comfortably within the top six. This year's sixth-ranked athlete is Benzema, who earns a post-tax salary of $110 million, ranking fourth in salary but only $5 million in commercial income, placing him 60th in that category.