The NHL’s lucrative broadcasting contracts and strong fan base contribute to the sport’s high-paying nature. Baseball players boost their yearly incomes with huge salaries from team management, endorsement deals, and signatures on shoes and jerseys. However, some top players earn much more than that from their contracts and endorsement deals. American football, driven by the National Football League (NFL), is one of the richest sports in the world, generating around $20 billion annually. Although primarily based in the United States, its influence is growing globally. As of 2022, the average salary of professional NHL players is estimated to be around $2.69 million.

Wilfredo Leon, Jenia Grebennikov, and Matthew Anderson are a few of the best volleyball players right now, to mention a few. The NBA made $6.27 billion in revenue last season, with each franchise taking home $209 million. It’s no wonder that this sport attracts some of the world’s wealthiest sportsmen, with LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers raking in a whopping US$96.5 million this year, according to Forbes. Auto racing is a fascinating sport that is also one of the most dangerous.

Ice Hockey

Mike Trout tops their chart as the highest-paid baseball player with an annual salary of 37.17 million U.S. dollars. Altogether, the players topping the chart of most paid soccer players are Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Neymar. Furthermore, professional football players have ample opportunities to make more money through sponsorships each year. $60 million of that is from sponsorships, with a measly $2 million coming from salary earnings.

The Top 10 Biggest Sports in the World

The National Basketball Association (NBA) covers 30 teams – 29 in the United States and one in Canada. There’s a significant amount of press around the games, including the seven games of the NBA Playoffs. Outside of the tournaments, both the NWSL and the WNBA had record highs in viewership last year. Viewership for the NWSL championship game in November increased 18%. Over the course of the season, the league had a fivefold gain from 2023, reaching 18.7 million total viewers. The figure comprised $4.8 billion in salary and prize money and an additional $1.4 billion from endorsements.

American football players regularly achieve top positions in the Forbes list of top-earning athletes in the world. The average NFL player salary is currently estimated at $860,000 per year. The likes of Mohamed Ali and Mike Tyson topped Forbes list as the highest-earning sportspeople in the world, with Tyson earning about $685 million in his boxing career. Retired and undefeated boxer, Floyd Mayweather earned $85 million income in 2002, and in 2014 he earned $105 million. He repeated the feat in 2018, due to his competent promotional policies earning $285 million making him the highest-paid boxer in 2018.

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• In the meantime, some of the top volleyball players are Wilfredo Leon, Jenia Grebennikov, and Matthew Anderson, to name a few.

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• Basketball, soccer, baseball, ice hockey, golf, and cricket are among the best-paying games in the present-day world.
• Just as American Football leverages its broadcast revenues, avid golfers can benefit from understanding merchandising and fan loyalty.
• In this post, I’ve ranked the top sports for average athlete salaries.

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• That puts her $7 million off No. 100, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daniel Jones, who earned $37.5 million in 2024.

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• However, it is clear that sports such as football (soccer), basketball, american football, and formula one racing are among the top contenders for generating substantial revenue.

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Ashok Kumar, vice-chancellor of the Sports University of Haryana, said the government support starts when the player has already started winning medals. “At present, most of the resources, both from the government and private grants, go to top players who are already star players. They have enough money to support themselves, so, the government funding should be diverted to budding players instead.” The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has programmes like Khelo India Talent, Olympic Podium Scheme, Olympic Gold Quest, etc., to provide financial aid to players.

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How to Get a Sports Internship

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While different factors contribute to a sport’s popularity, the primary measure is the number of fans and followers worldwide. From football’s global dominance to cricket’s vast reach across Asia, the biggest sports in the world attract billions of passionate supporters. This article ranks going here the top 10 based on estimated fan engagement, including TV audiences, social media presence, and active participation. Basketball, boxing, American football, golf, soccer, tennis, ice hockey, baseball, cricket, and wrestling are among the most lucrative sports.

Golf is a sport that involves hitting a ball with a club into a series of holes on a course. Golf is a game of skill, precision, and patience where players compete on various courses worldwide. Some of the most well-paid wrestlers include The Rock, Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and Roman Reigns. They earn millions of dollars per year from WWE and other sources.