The world of professional sports is big business. Through the broadcast deals, ticket sales, sports equipment stores, endorsements, sports teams and leagues bring billions of dollars each year. Naturally, teams want the best players to be a part of their organization and these players can demand massive sums for their services. Jaw-dropping contracts are far from rare these days, and it’s very impressive what these players can bring in. If you want these incredible stars on your team, it’s going to cost you. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest contracts and salaries in professional sports.
Giannis Antetokounmpo sports Player
The 6’11” Greek center Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the most valuable basketball players in the NBA. Since he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2013, he has been playing exceptionally well for the team with many highlights including MVP (2x), All-Star (4x), Defensive Player of the Year 2020, and many others.
After this season, there was some speculation that Giannis would try to leave for a different team. The Bucks know that Giannis is their ticket to the playoffs again next year. Without him, the Bucks are greatly lacking as a team. Furthermore, losing Giannis would be like letting a young LeBron or Jordan go before they really hit their prime. In their regular season matchups, Giannis Antetokounmpo brings strong basketball betting odds to the Bucks, and if they add a few more players in key positions, the Bucks will be the championship-calibre team we know they can be. His new contract is rumored to be a five year deal worth over $230 million dollars.
Canelo Alvarez sports Player
Alvarez is recognized as one of the world’s best boxers that is currently active. His record is astounding, 53 wins with only 1 loss and that loss came from rival undefeated boxer, the stunningly wealthy Floyd Mayweather. Alvarez is definitely doing pretty well for himself too, his new contract with the DAZN streaming service has made major headlines lately. It was announced that Alvarez had signed a 5 year 11 fight contract with the service to the tune of $365 million dollars. Under the contract terms, he may make even more if he can bring in new subscribers during this time period.
Lionel Messi
In the sport of soccer, Messi will be remembered as one of the greats. Over the past 16 years, he has helped his team Barcelona to win 34 championship trophies. As one of the best players in the sport, he is certainly in high demand. Reportedly he earns $92 million (gross) a year from Barcelona alone, but a large portion of his wealth also comes from his endorsement deals, valued at a total of $34 million each year.
Messi supposedly has a lifetime deal worked out with sports apparel brand Adidas that brings the star player $11.5 million a year. He also has deals worked out with Gatorade, Pepsi, Mastercard, Gillette, Huawei and others. His net worth is rumored to be around an impressive $400 million dollars.
Roger Federer
Federer is the biggest star in professional tennis with numerous championships and achievements to his name. He also has the distinction of recently being named as the highest-paid athlete in professional sports with an astounding take home of $106.3 million per year. He has beat our Messi, Ronaldo, and many others to achieve this. To put it in perspective, the next highest paid tennis player is Novak Djokovic at $44.6 million per year.
Mike Trout
Analytics would suggest that baseball overall has been on the decline over the past few decades, but MLB players certainly did not get that memo. Baseball teams have incredible evaluations with a team like the New York Yankees valued at $5 billion as the second most valuable team in the world after the Dallas Cowboys.
With this in mind, you can expect some of these players to command exceptionally lucrative contracts as well. Mike Trout, the center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels just signed a contract that will last from 2019-2030. Over the length of this contract, he will bring in an annual $35.5 million a year for a total value of $426 million making him the recipient of the first and only $400+ million dollar contract in baseball history. Certainly not bad by any means.
