After becoming the highest paid athlete for the fourth year in a row, it should come as no surprise that Cristiano Ronaldo is football’s highest paid player for 2024.
According to Forbes, the Portuguese superstar earned $285m for the year. $220m came from his lucrative contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr and other on-field earnings, whilst $65m came from off-field sponsorships and endorsements.
Ronaldo has a $20m-a-year lifetime contract with Nike that has seen him become one of the faces of the brand over the last two decades, whilst also benefitting from sponsorship deals with TAG Heuer, Herbalife, Binance, Armani and more.
Being not just one of the most recognisable figures in sports, but in all of the world, Ronaldo is the most followed person on social media, amassing a record of over 900 million followers on several platforms.
What is more interesting from the Portugal forward is the recent launch of his dedicated YouTube channel, UR Cristiano. The channel broke the record for most subscribers in a week at 50 million and currently stands at 65 million.
With his contract at Al-Nassr coming to an end this season, and turning 40-years-old in February, Ronaldo may be coming closer to retiring than ever before, but the endorsement and sponsorship deals he has in place will comfortably set him up for life after football.
In what has become etched in football history, you can’t mention Ronaldo or Lionel Messi without mentioning the other as the Argentinian followed Ronaldo in second on Forbes’ list.
The Inter Miami and Argentina star has helped the MLS club top the Eastern Conference for the first time in its history and is looking to add the MLS Cup to the second Copa Ámerica trophy he won with his national team last summer.
Forbes reveals that Messi earned $135m for 2024, with his off-the-field earnings of $75m making up a majority of his pay, whilst his on-field earnings from his contract with Inter Miami netting him $60m.
The former FC Barcelona legend has taken the US by storm since his arrival in Miami in 2023, which came with some lucrative sponsorship and endorsement deals with the likes of Apple, complementing his impressive portfolio which includes Adidas, who he too has a lifetime contract with and is worth a reported $1bn since being inked in 2017. Messi also has sponsorship agreements with Mastercard, Pepsi, Konami and more.
If the 37-year-old decides to opt in for the 2026 MLS season, which he has an option to do in his contract, this would lead him into the World Cup that year in his adopted new home of the US – which could bring even more lucrative off-field opportunities.
In third place as the highest paid footballer is Neymar Jr., who brought in $110m. The 32-year-old’s start to life at Al-Hilal did not go to plan after suffering an ACL injury last year.
However, the Brazilian star has been busy off-the-pitch inking and maintaining sponsorship deals. Since the age of 17, Neymar has been one of the most recognisable faces in football and his deals with Puma, Red Bull, Flutter Entertainment and more. An imminent return to the pitch will only help Neymar achieve more for his club and his brand.
Rounding out the top 10 sees Karim Benzema ($104m) in fourth, Kylian Mbappé ($90m) fifth, Erling Haaland ($60m) sixth, Vinicius Jr. ($55m) seventh, Mohammed Salah ($53m) eighth, Sadio Mané ($52m) ninth, and Kevin De Bruyne ($39m) tenth.
