In the second week of June 2014, the authoritative magazine "Forbes" announced the top 100 highest-paid active professional athletes in 2014. The income figures include the twelve-month period from June 1, 2013 to June 1, 2014. With all data included, including salaries, bonuses and endorsements, the 100 highest-paid athletes earned a combined $2.75 billion in the past 12 months, up 100% from the previous year. Five out of five.
In the entire list, baseball players occupy a full 27 seats, more than a quarter, and can be called the sport with the highest average income. However, unfortunately, there are no baseball players in the top 20. figure.
The second largest number of player seats is rugby, with a total of 18 players on the top 100 list; after that, basketball occupies 16 seats, and football has 14 positions; and then you can also see tennis, golf, and racing. , boxing, cricket and other sports have successfully won seats among the top 100.
It can be seen from the data distribution of the top 100 list that major professional players around the world are now highly paid. Baseball, football and basketball, which are very popular in the United States, occupy the top three places - except for the conditional restrictions. In addition to ice hockey, which is difficult to promote, they jointly occupy 61 seats, which can be called absolute dominance. From the side, it can also be seen that the American professional sports league is complete and high-end, and the development and promotion of commercial value is undoubtedly at the forefront.
Among them, among the top 20 lists representing the top income groups, the distribution data has slightly changed. Football tops the list with six seats, once again proving the majesty of the world's number one sport; rugby, basketball and tennis each occupy the top spot. There are three positions, boxing and golf have two seats each, and the remaining one seat belongs to Formula One——
It is worth mentioning that as individual sports, tennis, boxing, golf and racing have not been able to form a collective advantage in the top 100 list. The number of finalists is not large, but as long as they are shortlisted, they can be at the top. The top two Eight spots were taken away from the top ten. Take tennis as an example. Although only six players are among the top 100, all six players are among the top 50. At the same time, three players are among the top 20. This shows the difference between individual events and collective events. .
In addition, there are only three female athletes on the top 100 list, all from tennis, namely Maria Sharapova, Li / Na and Selena Williams. Among various sports, the income of female athletes is generally low, which can be seen intuitively and obviously. On the road of equal pay for men and women for equal work, tennis is at the forefront of the times.
Returning from the project level to the individual level, the Forbes list can clearly see the ranking of the most valuable professional athletes in the world today.
With an income of US$105 million, the American boxing champion Floyd Mayweather surpassed all the heroes and celebrities to reach the top. He also became the second best boxer after Tiger Woods. The second active player in history with an annual income of over 100 million. It must be noted that Meservy does not have any advertising revenue. All of the 105 million comes from game bonuses - from the perspective of never relying on advertising endorsements , the prize money of boxing is indeed the first in the world!
Ranking second is none other than San Francisco 49ers quarterback Lu Ke!
This is the second consecutive year that Lu Ke has occupied the runner-up position on the Forbes 100 list - last year, with the highest signing bonus in league history, Lu Ke jumped to the runner-up position on the list with an income of US$85 million, just behind For football player Cristiano Ronaldo.
This year, although there is no additional effect of signing bonus, and the salary of football players is far behind that of basketball and football, Lu Ke has held the runner-up position for the second consecutive year with the unparalleled strong appeal of the commercial market - —This time, his annual income is still as high as $83 million.
Without the acceleration of the contract signing bonus, Lu Ke's annual income is still basically the same as the previous year. It is obvious that the income from commercial endorsements has skyrocketed, including Pepsi-Cola, Gillette, Under Armor, Burberry, and Mercedes-Benz. Large sponsorship contracts for Mercedes-Benz and other advertisements prove Lu Ke’s commercial value.
In fact, now Lu Ke has surpassed the treatment of top advertising darlings such as Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Roger Federer, etc., and even the retired David Beckham has eclipsed it - purely from advertising From the perspective of endorsement income, Lu Ke deserves to be at the top of the list, with Tiger Woods, LeBron James, and Roger Federer ranking second to fourth respectively. This straightforwardly proves that Lu Ke’s current commercial value is The world's first.
More importantly, although Lech has been tightening his strategy and has never let go, and he will never easily accept advertisements for Lu Ke, such an act of cherishing feathers has still not been able to stop the enthusiasm of sponsors. Lu Ke's market value It is not falling but rising, and manufacturers looking forward to cooperating with Lu Ke are queuing up——
Rumor has it that Calvin-Klein (CK) offered $30 million to invite Lu Ke to become the underwear spokesperson for the new season.
How outrageous is this price? You can see it from the horizontal comparison. At the same time, H&M invited Beckham to be the spokesperson of underwear for the new season, and the endorsement fee is three million US dollars. Of course, Beckham's endorsement fee is only one quarter, while Lu Ke's is one year; but the data comparison can still clearly feel the clear gap, making people directly and concretely feel Lu Ke's current power.
By the way, Lech declined Calvin Klein.
In just three years, Lu Ke has grown from an undrafted rookie that no one cares about to the top and most valuable professional player in the world. His commercial value continues to rise. With the defending Super Bowl and consecutive championships, With the feat of Super Bowl MVP, his influence is still increasing.
The most incredible part is that the phrase "the fight never stops" influenced countless people after the Super Bowl, truly interpreting the spirit of the San Francisco 49ers and allowing all fans to feel the power of this team. Later, Lech officially registered this slogan for Lu Ke, and it became one of Lu Ke's exclusive commercial labels, which was promoted globally, just like Nike's "Just-Do-It".
Of course, this is all a thing for another time.
Among the top 100 highest-paid active athletes released by "Forbes", last year's champion Cristiano Ronaldo still ranks third after Mayweather and Lu Ke, with a total income of US$80 million, which is still the highest in the world today. The most attractive player in the game ranks first.
After that, LeBron James is fourth, Leo Messi is fifth, Kobe Bryant is sixth, Tiger Woods is seventh, Roger Federer is eighth, Phil Mickelson is -Mickelson) is ninth and Rafael Nadal is tenth. These are the top professional athletes in the world.
Compared with the top twenty, the top ten can be said to be the best of the best: golf, tennis, football and basketball each occupy two seats, while boxing and rugby each have one representative player. The commercial value and potential of sports are clear at a glance.
If you study the list carefully, you can get a glimpse of the reason why Roger Goodell concentrated his firepower to push Lu Ke out:
Among the top fifty seats, rugby has a total of five players. In addition to Lu Ke, there are also Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford, Peyton Manning, and Darrell Revis.
Among them, Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford both signed large contracts during the offseason, guaranteeing part of their bonuses, allowing them to rise to the forefront; while Darrell Revis was transferred He went to the New England Patriots and also signed a large contract, which successfully put him in the forefront.
Aaron Rodgers, who was in the top ten last year, fell to 53rd this year - the reason is very simple. Last year, Rogers signed a new contract with guaranteed bonuses that allowed him to rise to the top. This year, he returned to normal salary. He also lost his competitiveness at the top level.
reason? Advertising endorsement income.
Currently, the top five players with the highest endorsement income in the NFL are Lu Ke, Manning, Brees, Rodgers, and Manning Jr. Brady did not make it into the top 100 of the "Forbes" list because of his The salary is not the highest, and the endorsements are also meticulous, so the income cannot be considered high.
Among them, only Lu Ke, Manning and Brees earned more than 10 million US dollars in endorsement income. Rodgers and Manning Jr. both earned US$7.5 million - and Brady earned US$6 million.
Looking at the endorsement income of other players, Matt Ryan is 1.8 million, Matthew Stafford is 1.5 million, and Darrell Revis is 800,000. The reason why they are at the top of the Forbes list depends entirely on the huge guaranteed bonus when renewing the contract. In addition, the commercial value of the players is still in a barren state, waiting for the favor of more manufacturers.
It can be seen from a few simple examples that the income from advertising endorsements in football is too low. The real money makers in the entire league are the team owners, not the top star players. Compared with basketball and football-even baseball , the market potential of rugby is far from being tapped.
It can be said that Roger Goodell hopes that the league can produce superstar players, just like LeBron James is to basketball and Cristiano Ronaldo is to football, and then use the strong appeal of superstar players to attract more manufacturers to enter. Eventually, more players across the league will be able to benefit, and the market value of the entire league will continue to rise, opening up a new world.
Now, Lu Ke has reached such a height that he has truly joined the top ranks on a global scale. He has shown a strong upward trend for two consecutive years. The name of "Rugby Quarterback Lu Ke" is resounding around the world.
Who would have thought that Lu Ke could accomplish a feat that no other rugby player could accomplish? But from another perspective, it is indeed impossible for anyone except Lu Ke to complete it!
Miaoshuwu
