Floyd Mayweather Jr. made $85 billion last year, making him the highest-paid athlete tracked by Forbes. Mayweather takes home 50% more per fight than Manny Pacquiao thanks to running ticket revenue, pay-per-view, and sponsorships through Mayweather Promotions.

Manny Pacquiao made $56 million from the Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley fights + another $6 million from his Nike, HP, Monster Energy, and Hennessy endorsements.

Tiger Woods makes $55 million in endorsements!

LeBron James made $53 million last year, even after his 20% loss of NBA salary due to the lockout. LeBron owns part of Liverpool FC!

David Beckham made $9 million as a soccer player + $37 million through endorsements.

Messi made $20 million for soccer, $19 million for endorsements.

So except for boxers, is all the big money in sports in endorsements?

I wonder if the same is true for celebrities? All the big money is in endorsements...

If we could consider "endorsements" to also be advertisers paying for space on an ad network, then could the technology industry be thrown into the same category?

Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc...

You are correct, sir.

The Advertisers are the Users, and the Endorsers are the Product.

(a variation on a theme from Don Norman)

Only two women made the top 100. (The cut-off was $16.6 million.)

Neither was born American. Both are tennis players.

Maria Sharapova is Russian and Li Na is Chinese:

Maria Sharapova ranks No. 26 with earnings of $27.9 million. She has long had a coveted portfolio of sponsors that now includes Nike, Head, Samsung, Tag Heuer and Evian. Sales for the Maria Sharapova Collection, her line of products at Nike subsidiary Cole Haan, doubled last year. Her ballet flat is the best selling female shoe for Cole Haan. Sharapova has stepped up her play on the court over the past year and is now the No. 1 ranked tennis player in the world. She completed a career Grand Slam with her French Open title and earned $5.9 million in prize money over the past 12 months.

Li Na ranks No. 81 overall with earnings of $18.4 million. She was a mildly successful pro with three career WTA victories before 2011, when she reached two Grand Slam finals and won the French Open title. The win in Paris made her the first Asian-born player ever to win a singles Grand Slam event. She signed seven multimillion-dollar endorsement deals after the historic win, in spite of the sluggish overall sponsorship market. Li shills for Babolat, Haagan-Daaz, Nike, Samsung and Mercedes, as well as multiple Chinese companies.

So, to make the big bucks as a female athlete, tennis is the way to go.

How is Serena Williams not in the Top 100?

No endorsements?