Cristiano Ronaldo, Stephen Curry Top Sportico List of 2024's Highest-Paid Athletes

The 2024 list of highest-paid athletes was unveiled on Wednesday with a familiar name atop the list.

Per Sportico, Cristiano Ronaldo ranked in the top spot for the second straight year, earning a whopping $260 million. Golden State Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry was well below him in second place at $153 million.

At 40 years old, Ronaldo continues to perform at an incredibly high level, playing in his record sixth European Championship last year and becoming the first men’s player ever to score 900 career goals. Sportico's Kurt Badenhausen noted that he earned $215 million from his contract with Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr and another $45 million from off-field endorsements and endeavors.

Curry's 2024 earnings were a massive increase from 2023 when he earned $98.9 million. Badenhausen pointed out that the significant jump to the No. 2 spot was caused by "a bump tied to his long-term Under Armour contract extension."

The top 10 on Sportico's list of highest-paid athletes is as follows:

1, Cristiano Ronaldo ($260M)

2, Stephen Curry ($153.8M)

3, Tyson Fury ($147M)

4, Lionel Messi ($135M)

5, LeBron James ($133.2M)

6, Neymar ($133M)

7, Oleksandr Usyk ($122M)

8, Karim Benzema ($116M)

9, Kylian Mbappe ($110M)

10, Jon Rahm ($105.8M)

Interestingly, the top 10 doesn't include any players from MLB or the NFL. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was the highest-paid NFL player at $100.4 million, ranking 12th on the list. Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani placed 21st at $72.5 million.

Unfortunately, this marked the second consecutive year that no female athletes cracked the top 100 on Sportico's list of highest-paid athletes. Tennis star Coco Gauff was the highest-paid female athlete for the second consecutive year at $30.4 million, but the cutoff this year was $37.5 million by former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.