Money, Money, Money, Money...Money

For the seventh year, Sport Illustrated has come out with a list of the top 50 earning American athletes. Tiger Woods topped the list again this year despite everything that has happened. Although his earning are down about 9 million dollars, but I’m not sure that matters very much when you’re earning more than 90 million dollars per year. The complete list included 15 NFL stars, 16 NBA players, 13 baseball players, 3 NASCAR drivers, two golf titans, and a boxer. I’m guessing you probably noticed the absence of any tennis players on this list. It makes sense. Americans just aren’t that interest in tennis, but I don’t have to like it. Andy Roddick is the highest earning American player on the men’s side and as much as I love him, he’s not winning the big tournaments that come with the big money and the big endorsements. Even if he was, the A-Rod of the tennis world would have to win prize money equivalent to 22 grand slams in a year to equal the yearly salary of baseball’s A-Rod. Clearly that isn’t going to happen. That’s why tennis players have to make up for the lack of prize money with endorsements.

Serena Williams may be the superstar of the WTA tour, but even more so than other industries, female athletes only make a fraction of what their male equivalents take home. Tennis is actually one of the most equal sports in terms of pay between men and women, but even if the prize money is the same, the endorsements will never be. Williams isn’t even the highest earner on the women’s tour. That honor goes to Maria Sharapova, who earned nearly 20 million dollars in the last year. Not only is Sharapova the highest earning female athlete, she made it to number 20 on the list of the Top 20 Highest Earning International Athletes, one of 3 tennis players on this year’s list. Attractiveness will get you everywhere. Maria hasn’t made it past the quarters at any major since she won the 2008 Australian Open. I’m not knocking her play. She was out for a long time with a shoulder injury and has been working her way back to top form. But this just goes to show how little prize money means and how much the “cute” factor matters for endorsements. I mean, Anna Kournikova never really won anything on the singles tour and she still makes money on her tennis career because people think she’s hot. Serena Williams may be incredibly talented, but she’s also slightly terrifying. Maria Sharapova and her Chihuahua make for a pretty cute commercial, but Serena doesn’t exactly scream cute.

Anyway, I got a little off topic. Three tennis players made the list of the Top 20 International Earners. Roger Federer came in at number 1, earning over 60 million dollars between prize money and endorsements. Federer’s got it all, mind blowing talent, good looks, and ridiculous sums of money. Mirka is a lucky lady. He was number 9 on last years list, so even though he didn’t defend his title at the French Open or Wimbledon this year, he’ll be pleased to know that he earned more than twice as much as the next highest earning tennis player, world number 1, Rafael Nadal. Nadal appeared at number 9 on the list, earning 27 million dollars. In case you’re wondering what would happen if SI put together a global list. Federer would be the 2^nd highest paid athlete in the world, right behind his good friend Tiger and right above pro golfer, Phil Mickelson.