Highest-Paid Golfers of All Time
Three of the top four highest paid athletes are golfers.
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Hey Golfers -
Sportico released a list of the Top 10 highest-paid athletes of all time. Three golfers made the list. Let’s take a look.
Three golfers
Two basketball players
Two soccer players
One boxer
One Formula 1 driver
One tennis player
Lionel Messi (34) and Cristiano Ronaldo (36) are the two youngest athletes on the list. They have made $875 million and $650 million, respectively, on the soccer pitch.
The two oldest athletes on the list are Arnold Palmer (87) and Jack Nicklaus (82). Arnie and Jack made $3.6 million and $5.7 million playing professional golf, respectively. Arnold passed away in 2016 and is still checking in at third on the list. Quite remarkable.
Here is a breakdown of earnings from each player. This does not include endorsements or business deals.
Michael Jordan: $93.7 million
Tiger Woods: $120.8 million
Arnold Palmer: $3.6 million
Jack Nicklaus: $5.7 million
Cristiano Ronaldo: $650 million
Floyd Mayweather: $807 million
Lebron James: $387 million
Lionel Messi: $875 million
Michael Schumacher: $1 billion
Roger Federer: $130 million
It is impressive that three golfers made this list considering the PGA Tour’s annual revenue compared to the big four leagues.
PGA Tour: $1.5 billion
NFL: $15.2 billion
MLB: $10.7 billion
NBA: $10 billion
NHL: $5 billion
Tom Brady is the highest-paid NFL player, making $292 million over 22 seasons. Of the top ten highest-paid NFL players, eight are quarterbacks. The tenth highest paid NFL player is Von Miller at $144 million.
Below is the list of the top ten PGA Tour career money list.
Stark differences between the NFL and PGA Tour, and it should be. The NFL does ten times the revenue of the PGA Tour. The NFL is incredibly popular in the United States; 75 of the 100 most-watched TV broadcasts in 2021 were NFL games.
The interesting difference between the PGA Tour and the NFL is the comparison between Tiger Woods and Tom Brady. Tiger just turned 46, and Tom is 44. There are arguments that each is the greatest of all time in their respective sport. Tom Brady not making the top ten highest-paid athletes list tells us how much Tiger moved the needle for golf. Great perspective.
Tiger has made 5% of his money from prize money. The remaining money Tiger made was from endorsements and business dealings. The timeline and money of his Nike contract alone are insane.
1996: $40 million (5-year contract)
2001: $100 million (5-year contract)
2006: $200 million (8-year contract)
Tiger’s Nike contract was extended in 2013, but details are difficult to find. If we assume that Nike matched the previous contract, that is an additional $200 million. Tiger has made around $500 million from his Nike contracts alone.
Tiger has made numerous business investments throughout his career.
Albany, The Bahamas
The Woods
TGR Design
Popstroke
Heard Software
Arnold Palmer’s playing earnings to overall earnings are wildly impressive. If we calculate Arnold’s winnings from inflation, he would still be the lowest earnings player on the list. If we took $3.6 million in 1960, that is worth $34 million today.
Arnold was an incredible businessman. Three business investments stick out the most.
Golf Channel
IMG
Golf course design
Arnold was an original co-founder and investor of the Golf Channel. He raised $80 million to launch the network that was later acquired by Comcast, resulting in a favorable return for Arnold.
Arnold and Mark McCormack had a handshake deal for IMG to represent Arnold Palmer as a sports agent. In return, Arnold received a sizeable stake in IMG, a leader in the industry.
Arnold Palmer designed golf courses all over the world. The numbers are staggering.
300 golf courses
25 countries
5 continents
Arnold and Jack's apparent difference is their time horizon for endorsement money, investment money, and building businesses. They were and are incredible entrepreneurs.
Athletes are becoming incredible investors and business professionals. I will be excited to see where the younger generation invests their money.
Have yourself a Monday, talk to you next week!
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Fascinating!
Arnold's legacy earnings are remarkable considering his career earnings.