Who are the top paid sport stars of 2015?

Daily Mail

21 May, 2015 04:24 AM3 mins to read

Floyd Mayweeather and Lionel Messi are two of the highest paid athletes in sport.

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao's fight may have been a let-down for some fans but it saw the boxers' bank accounts skyrocket well clear of the field when it comes to sport's top earners.

'Money' Mayweather's estimated earnings of $342million or $8.19m a minute to duck and weave his way to victory over Pac-Man will see the American pocket almost four and a half times the top footballer, Barcelona ace Lionel Messi, in 2015.

Pacquiao will make much less than Mayweather, a paltry $204.9m for the Filipino, but that's still almost three times the fourth highest earner in world sport, Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, according to ESPN The Magazine's 2015 survey.

The figures factor in annual gross salaries and prize money from this year from their sport, not including endorsements, appearance fees, sponsorships or other means of income.

Formula One takes up the next two places on the list, with Sebastian Vettel's defection from Red Bull to Ferrari leading him to rake in $68.4m and come fifth on the list while Fernando Alonso's return to McLaren netted an income of $54.6m and sixth place.

PSG's Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic is seventh with annual earnings of $47.9m to round out the footballers in the top 10, with Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney the next best in 12th with $35.4m.

Lewis Hamilton's current estimated income of $42m places the British F1 world champion in eighth, but doesn't factor in the new deal that has been struck with Mercedes until 2018 that is speculated to be worth $64m a year, which which would see him split his driver rivals on the list.

Rounding out the top 10 are baseball players, with Clayton Kershaw of the LA Dodgers and the Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander earning $42m and $38.2m respectively.

Major League Baseball makes up 14 of the top 25 earners while only three NBA players make the list led by Kobe Bryant's $32.12m.

Serena Williams' $12.72m income, reports ESPN, makes her the top-earning women in world sport.

Forbes' 2014 ranking, which includes endorsements along with pay and salary had Mayweather at No 1 ahead of Ronaldo, basketball's LeBron James and then Messi.

The rankings golfers and tennis stars, including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who don't make ESPN's rankings, are elevated significantly by sponsors and endorsements.