Surprising List Of Athletes Who’ve Received The Richest Sports Contracts

Where does Floyd Mayweather rank in terms of which athletes will earn the most money in 2014 by virtue of their contracts?

As you know, Floyd Mayweather is set to fight Marcos Maidana Saturday, May 3, 2014 and - win or lose - Mayweather will earn $32 million dollars. Some of that will come from all those who paid to view the fight.

It made me think, he's gotta be up there with the likes of Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, LeBron James, etc. You know, the household names, the people you think of when you think rich athletes.

However, this list may surprise you - it surprised me when I did the research - this is the list of athletes who have earned/received the largest sports contracts, listed in order of the average amount of money they earned in a year through that contract:

Ethan Miller, Getty Images
Ethan Miller, Getty Images
1
Floyd Mayweather
The undefeated boxer's 2 year contract with Showtime (2013-2015), worth $180 million, makes it such that - before taxes, of course - he will earn over $72 million this year alone. On average, per fight, he makes around $30 million dollars. The taxman loves him.
Mark Thompson, Getty Images
Mark Thompson, Getty Images
2
Kimi Räikkönen
The auto racer had a recent 3-year contract with Ferrari (2007-2009) worth $153 million, which averages out to $51 million per year. This meant that, per race, he would earn close to $3 million. How would you like to pocket that kind of coin each time you went to work?
Clive Mason, Getty Images
Clive Mason, Getty Images
3
Michael Schumacher
Another legendary auto racer - considered to be one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time - had a 4 year contract in the late 90's that netted him an average of $31 million per year. That's close to about $2 million dollars a race.
Stephen Dunn, Getty Images
Stephen Dunn, Getty Images
4
Clayton Kershaw
The 26-year old LA Dodger lefty pitcher recently signed a 7-year deal worth $215 million, averaging $30,151,500 per year. That breaks out to over $186,000 per game. So tell me, is it more worth it to practice your fastball or your 3-point jumper? I don't know...
Gregory Shamus, Getty Images
Gregory Shamus, Getty Images
5
Miguel Cabrera
You think A-Rod makes money? He does, but the Detroit Tiger's first baseman makes slightly more. He signed a 10 year deal worth $292 million, which means he makes close to $30 million a year. Would you live in the Detroit area for that kind of money? Of course you would.

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Categories: Sports