It is being said that sportsmen are good as long as they are performing well in their respective areas, however, some have defied this theory. Even in the past when athletes endured a dip in form the same hardly affected their earning capacities. Be it, Diego Maradona or Sachin Tendulkar, despite the stalwarts going through a bad phase in their respective careers they hardly faced any kind of indifference from sponsors’ bandwagon. So, it hardly came as a surprise when Sportico, a digital content platform offering news, insights, and data on the Sports industry, featured some sportsmen struggling for form in the list of top 100 highest-paid athletes across the world.
Roger Federer (8th)
The genius, who uses the tennis racket like an artist in the midst of a masterpiece, has been missing in action for a while. After an injury in 2021 forced the Swiss to pull out of a Grand Slam event abruptly, Federer is yet to feature in a tennis tournament, irrespective of the size of the championship. However, this forced sabbatical has hardly affected his earning capacity as he finds himself 8th on the list of highest-paid athletes of this year. This despite him earning just $ 724,000 from the tennis court out of total revenue of $85.7 million, according to the digital content platform. This exemplifies the goodwill he enjoys among brands despite not featuring in any sporting events.
Tiger Woods (10th)
The US golfer has long given away his numero uno status in golf to other players and his participation in any event in the last few years strictly serves academic purposes. Nowadays, he makes news mostly for his misadventures off the golf course yet this has not diminished his popularity a wee bit among various high profile brand owners. Despite his future in golf lying in the corridor of uncertainty, Woods has still made it to the 10th position in the list of highest-paid athletes in the world this year with $65 m out of his total earnings of $73.5 m coming in from off-course activities ie away from the golf course.
Virat Kohli (61st)
The former all-format skipper is, at present, a pale reflection of what he used to be in his glorious days. The “Run Machine” has suddenly developed some snags, which keep getting worse as days progress. He had the opportunity to silence his critics in the current edition of the IPL but apart from a few scratchy knocks and three Golden Ducks, Virat has shown precious little in the mega event so far. Yet, the mercurial Delhi batter is placed 61st on the list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes of the year across the globe. Notwithstanding the barren run with the willow, Virat still earns $33.9 m out of which $ 31 m comes from endorsements.
