A new list of athlete earnings has been created by Sportico (like the similar list published by Forbes). 2021 was the first year this list has been published, and it was a year that the sporting world was severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, with many major events canceled or postponed.

Below is the top-10 of the highest earning sportspeople for 2021, taken from the inaugural list of 100 highest-paid athletes published in 2021. The top earner for 2021 was Conor McGregor, with earnings totaling 208 million US dollars. There were two women in the top-100, Naomi Osaka (15th) and Serena Williams (44th).

See also the Sportico top-earning lists from other years.

Top-10 Highest Earning Sports people from 2021

Rank Name Sport Nationality Earnings* ($ million)
1 Conor McGregor MMA Ireland 208
2 Lionel Messi Soccer Argentina 126
3 Cristiano Ronaldo Soccer Portugal 120
4 Dak Prescott American Football USA 108.4
5 LeBron James Basketball USA 101.8
6 Neymar Soccer Brazil 100
7 Roger Federer Tennis Switzerland 84
8 Tom Brady American Football USA 80.4
9 Kevin Durant Basketball USA 80.1
10 Stephen Curry Basketball USA 74.5

Next on the list were: Lewis Hamilton, Canelo Álvarez, Tiger Woods, Russell Westbrook, Naomi Osaka, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, David Bakhtiari, Ronnie Stanley, Patrick Mahomes.

note: The earnings totals (in US dollars) from endorsements, licensing, memorabilia and appearances over the last 12 months are estimated by Sportico.

Conor McGregorConor McGregor