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Professional athletes are some of the richest people on the planet. Be it footballers, basketball players, boxers, tennis players, golfers or cricketers, the one thing which is common among all of them is that they are rich. Not just rich actually, stinking rich to be precise. While Indian cricketers make a ton of money with cricket being the most popular sport in the country, they still have quite a long stretch to cover in order to attain the financial stature of star footballers, hoopsters, golfers, boxers and tennis players. Having said that, cricketers are stinking rich as well and there are no two ways about it.
Cricket is played by a handful of countries around the world while football, tennis, boxing and golfers are global sports. Thus the influx of money is greater based on the popularity of the athletes. We take a closer look at how much money athletes earn across disciplines just by competing in a single match.
Richest Basketball Player 2022
Some of the richest athletes in the world are currently from the National Basketball Association (NBA), which is a basketball franchise-based league played in the U.S. There are currently 30 teams taking part in the NBA and each franchise plays a total of 82 matches in the regular season. By far the best basketball league in the world, NBA franchises fork out hefty salaries to their star players.
It is the dream of every budding basketball player in the world to play in the NBA, not just with the intention of minting millions of dollars but to establishing themselves as a brand. In terms of money, around $343 million (Rs 28,000 crore) are paid in salaries every season to the players. According to Forbes, LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are among the highest-earning athletes in the world.
Average earnings of NBA players per match:
Stephen Curry: $47.78 million annual salary (approximately Rs 300 crore)
Per match: $558,304.46 (approximately Rs 4.60 crore)
Russell Westbrook: $44.21 million annual salary (approximately Rs 300 crore)
Per match: $539,160.31 (approximately Rs 4.44 crore)
Richest Boxing Players 2022
Considered to be the biggest sport in the world, amateur boxing is played in the Olympic Games. But it is professional boxing where millions of dollars are up for grabs. Professional boxing is reportedly the second highest-grossing sport in the world. Boxing has a huge fanbase across the globe. Floyd Mayweather Jr is the highest-paid boxer in professional boxing.
Mayweather won a bronze medal for the U.S. in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games in the 57 kg weight category and after that started making his name in the professional boxing ring. The result of this was that from the year 1996 to 2017, Mayweather fought several big-money bouts and also captured 15 major world championship belts from super featherweight to light middleweight category.
Per match income
During Mayweather's professional boxing career, he has estimated to have pocketed a whopping $300 million (approximately Rs 24,000 crore) per match.
Anthony Joshua (British professional boxer): Anthony Joshua recently had a deal of $122.5 million (approximately Rs 1,000 crore) to replay one of his matches, which is a record in itself in professional boxing.
Richest National Football League (NFL) Players 2022
One of the most popular sports in the U.S. is the National Football League (NFL). Around 18 crore people in the U.S. follow NFL on a regular basis. NFL players earn more money than most football players in the world. A total of 32 teams participate in the NFL each season.
Roger Staubach
Talking about the highest-paid player in the NFL, former Dallas Cowboys star Roger Staubach earned approximately $253 million during hi career. When he started his career, his salary was $25,000 (approximately Rs 20.60 lakh) annually. In 1976, in the middle of his career, his salary increased to $95,000 (approximately Rs 78 lakh). Staubach's highest salary as an NFL player was $160,000 (approximately one crore rupees) in 1979, the last year of his career.
Aaron Rodgers
When it comes to the highest-earning NFL player currently, Aaron Rodgers tops the list. Rodgers, who plays for Green Bay Packers, has a deal of $150.815 million (approximately Rs 1,000 crore) for three years. His annual salary is $50.3 million (approximately Rs 414 crore).
Richest Golf Players 2022
When it comes to the highest-grossing sports in the world, golf is right up there on the list. The origin of golf traces back to the 15th century but it was in the 17th century when the popularity of the game skyrocketed in the U.S. and Europe. Tiger Woods is the highest-earning golfer, whose annual income is $12 million (approximately Rs 98 crore). According to Forbes, Tiger Woods' net worth is $800 million (approximately Rs 6500 crore).
Tiger Woods Earning Per Match:
Per hole - $8,637 (approximately Rs 7 lakh)
Per round - $155,000 (approximately Rs 1 crore)
Per Tournament - $588,000 (approximately Rs 4 crore)
Richest Football Players 2022
Football is one of the most popular sports in the world. Football has a huge dominance in countries like Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Central America and Asia. Football has a fan base of about 3.5 billion (approximately three lakh crore). Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo are currently among the highest-paid players in this game.
Messi's salary
Per match (PSG): $123,000 (approximately Rs 1 crore)
Per match (Argentina): $2 million (approximately Rs 12 crore)
Richest Cricket Players 2022
The origins of cricket can be traced back to 1721 and it evolved into one of the most popular sports in the world. Cricket is the most popular in India. But still cricket has a long way to go to register its name in the list of the world's highest-grossing sports.
Talking about the global fan base of cricket, according to a report by ICC's 'The World of Cricket Global Market Research', cricket has more than 1 billion (approximately 1,000 crore) fans. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the richest cricket board in the world and Indian cricketers are some of the highest-paid athletes in the world. Team India's star player and former captain Virat Kohl has a net worth is $127 million (approximately 1,000 crore).
Kohli's earnings per Test match: Rs 15 lakh
Kohli's earnings per ODI match: Rs 6 lakh
Kohli's earnings per T20I match: Rs 3 lakh
Average salary - Cricket vs Other sports
Basketball - $91,463.41 (approximately Rs 75 lakh)
Professional Boxing - $300 million (Rs 24,000 crore)
Golf (Tiger Woods) - Per Round - $155,000 (approximately Rs 1 crore)
Football (Lionel Messi) - $123,000 (approximately Rs 1 crore)
Cricket (Virat Kohli) per match - Rs 15 Lakh (Test Match)
