Forbes 100 Highest-Paid Athletes
2015 Edition
Every year Forbes puts together a list of the worlds highest paid athletes. Tiger Woods has been the world’s best paid athlete since 2001 but this year, boxing great Floyd “Money ” Mayweather Jr. tops the Forbes 100 Highest-Paid Athletes list with an earnings of $85 million. The top sports that have athletes represented on the list are NFL(30), MLB(22), NBA(13), Soccer(10), Tennis(5), Golf(5), Boxing(4), NASCAR(4), Formula One racing(3), Cricket(2), Motorcycle racing(1), Track and field(1)
Forbes 100 Highest-Paid Athletes
| Rank | Athlete | Sport | Earning | Team |
| 1 | Floyd Mayweather | Boxing | $85 million | |
| 2 | Manny Pacquiao | Boxing | $62 million | |
| 3 | Tiger Woods | Golf | $59.4 million | |
| 4 | LeBron James | NBA | $53 million | Miami Heat |
| 5 | Roger Federer | Tennis | $52.7 million | |
| 6 | Kobe Bryant | NBA | $52.3 million | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 7 | Phil Mickelson | Golf | $47.8 million | |
| 8 | David Beckham | Soccer | $46 million | Los Angeles Galaxy |
| 9 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Soccer | $42.5 million | Real Madrid |
| 10 | Peyton Manning | NFL | $42.4 million | Denver Broncos |
| 11 | Lionel Messi | Soccer | $39 million | FC Barcelona |
| 12 | Haloti Ngata | NFL | $37.3 million | Baltimore Ravens |
| 13 | Larry Fitzgerald | NFL | $36.8 million | Arizona Cardinals |
| 14 | Ndamukong Suh | NFL | $36 million | Detroit Lions |
| 15 | Charles Johnson | NFL | $34.4 million | Carolina Panthers |
| 16 | Mario Williams | NFL | $33.2 million | Buffalo Bills |
| 16 | Rafael Nadal | Tennis | $33.2 million | |
| 18 | Alex Rodriguez | MLB | $33 million | New York Yankees |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | Formula One racing | $32 million | |
| 20 | Michael Schumacher | Formula One racing | $30 million | |
| 20 | Valentino Rossi | Motorcycle racing | $30 million | |
| 22 | Darrelle Revis | NFL | $28.3 million | New York Jets |
| 23 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | NASCAR | $28.2 million | |
| 24 | Wladimir Klitschko | Boxing | $28 million | |
| 24 | Lewis Hamilton | Formula One racing | $28 million | |
| 26 | Maria Sharapova | Tennis | $27.9 million | |
| 27 | Sam Bradford | NFL | $27.8 million | St. Louis Rams |
| 28 | Tom Brady | NFL | $27.1 million | New England Patriots |
| 29 | Joe Mauer | MLB | $27 million | Minnesota Twins |
| 30 | Eli Manning | NFL | $26.6 million | New York Giants |
| 31 | LaMarr Woodley | NFL | $26.5 million | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 31 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Cricket | $26.5 million | |
| 33 | Dwight Howard | NBA | $25.6 million | Orlando Magic |
| 34 | Kevin Durant | NBA | $25.5 million | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| 35 | Dwyane Wade | NBA | $24.7 million | Miami Heat |
| 36 | Derek Jeter | MLB | $24.5 million | New York Yankees |
| 37 | Wayne Rooney | Soccer | $24.3 million | Manchester United |
| 38 | Mark Sanchez | NFL | $24.2 million | New York Jets |
| 39 | Ichiro Suzuki | MLB | $24 million | Seattle Mariners |
| 40 | CC Sabathia | MLB | $23.8 million | New York Yankees |
| 40 | Johan Santana | MLB | $23.8 million | New York Mets |
| 42 | Jeff Gordon | NASCAR | $23.6 million | |
| 43 | Ben Roethlisberger | NFL | $23.3 million | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 44 | Carmelo Anthony | NBA | $22.9 million | New York Knicks |
| 45 | Mark Teixeira | MLB | $22.8 million | New York Yankees |
| 46 | Amare Stoudemire | NBA | $22.7 million | New York Knicks |
| 47 | Tony Stewart | NASCAR | $22.3 million | |
| 48 | Luke Donald | Golf | $22.2 million | |
| 49 | Vernon Wells | MLB | $22.1 million | Anaheim Angels |
| 50 | Michael Vick | NFL | $22 million | Philadelphia Eagles |
| 51 | Logan Mankins | NFL | $21.9 million | New England Patriots |
| 51 | Richard Seymour | NFL | $21.9 million | Oakland Raiders |
| 53 | Adrian Peterson | NFL | $21.5 million | Minnesota Vikings |
| 53 | Ryan Howard | MLB | $21.5 million | Philadelphia Phillies |
| 53 | Jimmie Johnson | NASCAR | $21.5 million | |
| 56 | Jon Beason | NFL | $21.4 million | Carolina Panthers |
| 57 | Kevin Garnett | NBA | $21.1 million | Boston Celtics |
| 58 | Matthew Stafford | NFL | $20.9 million | Detroit Lions |
| 59 | Miguel Cabrera | MLB | $20.8 million | Detroit Tigers |
| 59 | Kaká | Soccer | $20.8 million | Real Madrid |
| 61 | Roy Halladay | MLB | $20.6 million | Philadelphia Phillies |
| 61 | Novak Djokovic | Tennis | $20.6 million | |
| 63 | D\’Brickashaw Ferguson | NFL | $20.3 million | New York Jets |
| 63 | Usain Bolt | Track and field | $20.3 million | |
| 65 | Sergio Aguero | Soccer | $20.1 million | Manchester City |
| 66 | DeAngelo Williams | NFL | $19.9 million | Carolina Panthers |
| 67 | Joe Thomas | NFL | $19.8 million | Cleveland Browns |
| 68 | Eric Berry | NFL | $19.6 million | Kansas City Chiefs |
| 68 | Prince Fielder | MLB | $19.6 million | Detroit Tigers |
| 68 | Fernando Torres | Soccer | $19.6 million | Chelsea |
| 71 | Ryan Kalil | NFL | $19.4 million | Carolina Panthers |
| 72 | Chris Paul | NBA | $19.2 million | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 73 | Tim Duncan | NBA | $19.1 million | San Antonio Spurs |
| 73 | Yaya Touré | Soccer | $19.1 million | Manchester City |
| 75 | Miguel Cotto | Boxing | $19 million | |
| 76 | Barry Zito | MLB | $18.9 million | San Francisco Giants |
| 77 | Robert Mathis | NFL | $18.7 million | Indianapolis Colts |
| 78 | Lawrence Timmons | NFL | $18.6 million | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 78 | Carlos Lee | MLB | $18.6 million | Houston Astros |
| 78 | Sachin Tendulkar | Cricket | $18.6 million | |
| 81 | Li Na | $18.4 million | ||
| 82 | Alfonso Soriano | MLB | $18.3 million | Chicago Cubs |
| 82 | Torii Hunter | MLB | $18.3 million | Anaheim Angels |
| 84 | Deron Williams | NBA | $18.2 million | Brooklyn Nets |
| 85 | Jonathan Joseph | NFL | $18.1 million | Houston Texans |
| 86 | Darnell Dockett | NFL | $18 million | Arizona Cardinals |
| 87 | Matt Holliday | MLB | $17.6 million | St. Louis Cardinals |
| 88 | Justin Verlander | MLB | $17.5 million | Detroit Tigers |
| 88 | Rashard Lewis | NBA | $17.5 million | Washington Wizards |
| 88 | John Terry | Soccer | $17.5 million | Chelsea |
| 91 | Carlos Zambrano | MLB | $17.4 million | Miami Marlins |
| 91 | Albert Pujols | MLB | $17.4 million | Anaheim Angels |
| 91 | Ernie Els | Golf | $17.4 million | |
| 91 | Rory McIlroy | Golf | $17.4 million | |
| 95 | Pau Gasol | NBA | $17.2 million | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 96 | Russell Okung | NFL | $17.1 million | Seattle Seahawks |
| 97 | Steven Gerrard | Soccer | $17 million | Liverpool |
| 98 | Carl Crawford | MLB | $16.9 million | Boston Red Sox |
| 99 | Rolando McClain | NFL | $16.7 million | Oakland Raiders |
| 100 | Jake Peavy | MLB | $16.6 million | Chicago White Sox |
