India skipper Virat Kohli is the only cricketer to feature in Forbes’ list of the top 100 highest paid athletes in the world for the year 2020.
Kohli is ranked at number 66 with estimated earnings of $26 million, as he made a jump of over 30 places from 2019. According to the magazine, Kohli earned a whopping $24 million from his endorsements, while just $2 million of the total estimate came from his salary and winnings.
Basketball players led all sports with 35 players among the top 100. American football occupied 31 spots, none higher than six-times Super Bowl champion Tom Brady ($45 million) who was ranked 25th.
Soccer was the next most represented sport with 14 players, followed by tennis (six), boxing and mixed marital arts (five), golf (four), motor racing (three), and baseball and cricket with one each.
“The coronavirus pandemic triggered salary cuts for soccer stars Messi and Ronaldo, clearing the way for a tennis player to rank as the world’s highest-paid athlete for the first time,” said Kurt Badenhausen, Senior Editor, Forbes, reported the magazine’s official website.
Roger Federer became the world’s highest-paid athlete for 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic knocked soccer’s Lionel Messi off top spot, according to the annual Forbes list released on Friday.
Soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar took spots 2-4, with the NBA’s LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant at Nos. 5-7, followed by Tiger Woods at No. 8. NFL players Kirk Cousins and Carson Wentz round out the top 10. Two women were in the top 100, both tennis players.
