Here are the top 10 of the Sports Illustrated Magazine's International 20 list for the year 2009, ranking the highest paid athletes from around the world.
As with all International 20 lists, it only includes athletes from outside of the USA, sorted by total earnings (salary, winnings, endorsements and appearance fees). See also the top 10 American athletes on the 2009 Fortunate 50 list.
Name | Country | Sport | earnings (US$ million) | previous year | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | David Beckham | Great Britain | Soccer | 45.2 | 1 |
2. | Kimi Räikkönen | Finland | Auto Racing | 40.1 | 2 |
3. | Manny Pacquiao | Philippines | Boxing | 40.0 | - |
4. | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Soccer | 39.9 | 4 |
=5. | Valentino Rossi | Italy | Motor Sports | 35.0 | 7 |
=5. | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Auto Racing | 35.0 | 6 |
7. | Yao Ming | China | Basketball | 33.1 | 8 |
8. | Lewis Hamilton | Great Britain | Auto Racing | 32.8 | 11 |
9. | Roger Federer | Switzerland | Tennis | 29.6 | 5 |
10. | Vijay Singh | Fiji | Golf | 28.7 | - |
Source
- List as published on SI.com
Related Pages
- About the International 20, and other Sports Illustrated Lists
- Other sporting lists, including the Forbes list of the World's Best Paid Athletes
- More about the World of Sport