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#2 Cristiano Ronaldo – $400 million
Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest paid sportsman in the world this year and it probably comes as a surprise that the Real Madrid superstar does not top the list. He is the Europe’s highest paid player (ahead of Messi) and he has a string of high-profile commercial endorsements as well.
Ronaldo earns nearly $53M plus bonuses in a year at Real Madrid. The $40 million Ronaldo earned from his sponsors, is more than any other footballer in the World, is due to his Nike deal which has provision for bonuses based on his performance.
His income from endorsements has risen steadily with the addition of deals with watchmaker Tag Heuer and Emirates Airlines. He is also the world's most popular athlete, with 112 million fans on Facebook and 43.8 million Twitter followers. He has his own underwear and shirt line called CR7 as well.
His net worth has risen more than 80 million dollars in just over a year. This has largely been due to Ronaldo opening two hotels named Pestana CR7 in his home country Portugal. He has also invested in a chain of gyms with US company Crunch with the first outlet in his name expected to open in Madrid.
With Ronaldo the among the most marketable active footballers in the world, it will not come as much of a surprise if the Portuguese superstar heads this list next year.
