Sport with the highest paid athletes. Wrestling???
 

With Shaq and ARod knocking down over $20 million a year you would think that basketball or baseball would have the highest paid athletes.:2 cents:

According to Howard Stern it seems that Hulk Hogan was bringing in about as much as Michael Jordan in the day and continues to make the big dollars through all the merchandising and worldwide appearances he does.

Maybe some of the other Major League sports should take a lesson and bring some more entertainment value to their games. Because of all the money that is generated through the hype of wrestling these guys are probably making more than most professional athletes every dreamed of making. :1orglaugh

Didn't make Michael Schumacher make around 100 milion in one year?

yeah.... what he said...

F1 Drivers have to be on the tops of this list !!


pro wrestling is not a sport... even it bills itself as "entertainment".


Big B

Yeah, Schumacher is the highest paid.

Jim

Hulk Hogan did that in one year about ten years ago. :1orglaugh

Looks like Shumacher brought in about $30 million in one year recently.

Pro football players like Dwayne Johnson aka The ROCK found out the amount of money these wrestlers are making and decided Sports Entertainment definitely paid better.

I have to agree though that the sport of wrestling is not what you see on WWF. That's just Entertainment! :thumbsup

I don't hate many things as much as I hate wrestling.

Most wrestlers don't get paid that much,

Mike Tyson made alot of money and spent alot of money- lol

$30m just for Holyfield 2

LeBron James will make more than $200 million by the time he is 25.

Mark my words.

:smokin

Last year, SI ranked Tiger Woods in the top spot. His wealth is mainly attributed to his endorsement contracts, which account for $80 million of his $86,370,407 salary.

:smokin

football players make big money more in signing bonuses etc.. "fast money" over time it equals out. Baseball/basketball is pretty high.. racing liek the others said I would think might be the highest..
but you mentioned all the other stuff.. stuff like "hogan dolls" isnt what he gets for his sport thats endorsments something seperate from the actual sports contract.. not the same thing..

Schumacher gotta be the top

I find myself agreeing with you often.

i highly doubt. Not because Hulk wasnt so popular,he was, but wrestlers not being the smartest around they usually cash (personally) only a small portion of their net value.

Hogan was making what MJ was making back in the day, but both of them are richer than anyone you've just mentioned... I believe they both have something around 3-400 million total..

The Bulls were paying Jordan $40-50 million per year each of the final three years with them. Who in sports has ever gotten that much?

Michael Schumacher may have gotten more than that, but auto racing is not a legit sport. Golf is even more of a sport than car racing.

out of athletes not including indorsements in 2005 peyton manning made the most at $35 million..

i think with indorsements its either tiger woods or lebron with there huge nike deals..

Tiger Woods gotta be up there somewhere

Yeah strapped in a car, surrounded by 200 litres of fuel and racing round at 200 mph with your arse inches from the tarmac in searing heat for a couple of hours and pulling up to 5g at times is a walk in the park compared to the demanding rigours of pro golf

lol so true :1orglaugh

Considering the travel and wear and tear on their bodies and constantly having to rub up against other sweaty men's bodies (and forearm to nutsack rubs), wrestlers for the most part are brutally underpaid.

F1 drivers are the highest paid. Top rated boxers are also very high paid

how much is beckham making?

He pocketed £22 million last year, making him the highest-earning footballer in the world. On top of his £5 million salary from Spanish team Real Madrid, he also raked in £17 million in advertising and sponsorship deals.

:smokin

Beckham currently makes a near 6 in a year since transferring from Man Utd, but even upon that he receives quite a huge sum on advertisement with a total of 19 Million pounds.

Here are the list:

1. Gillette (7 Million pounds)

2. Adidas (3 Million pounds)

3. Vodafone (1.7 Million pounds)

4. Pepsi (5 Million pounds)

:smokin

I never said it didn't take skill, but it's still not a real sport.

he was making around 31-34 million/season his last 2 years with the bulls.

formel 1 racing.

nice. at current exchange rates that's around $50 million

of course it's a sport.

golf is less of a sport. it's just walking around for a few hours

credit his popularity to his wife :winkwink:
he definitely made a good investment

:smokin

Hulk Hogan made huge money back in his prime, as did Steve Austin and The Rock, but those guys are the exception, not the rule. Very few, if any, are making over a million a year right now, including appearances and merchandise. No one, even Hogan, is making $20 million a year.

I think soccer players are the highest paid athletes, or amongst the highest.

I have a hard time believing Hulk Hogan is worth more than $50mil.

I think he is. He saved and invested his money wisely. Between wrestling, promotion/endorsements, movies, TV shows, merchandise, etc, he was making well over $10 million a year for several years. Hogan was everywhere in the 80s and early 90s.

Put basketball players on skates and grease the ball! :)

I really don't understand the appeal and economy of F1 racing. Why watch a car go around and around a track? I already hate traffic, I don't wanna watch it on TV too!

I think Kournikova earns more from product endorsements than for acutally playing tennis

Salaries of WWE performers should really be compared to Actors for a true ranking (not sports stars)

If auto racing is a sport, then astronauts and fighter pilots are athletes also.

whoa... that's a hell of a money... i wish i know how to drive F1.. :)

I consider wrestlers as the best actors and actresses in the world.

Hogan's net worth is over 200 million, despite what you believe. And yes, soccer players are the highest paid athletes in the world. And MJ was making 30+ million a year on his contract alone. He was making around another 20+ million on endorsements..

How about Kobe Bryant? How much is he earning?