Closing The Gap

There are no women in Forbes’ top 100 highest–paid athletes list

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Serena Williams of the U.S. in action in the French Open, June 2, 2018.
Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters

There are no women at all in Forbes' latest estimate of the world's 100 highest-paid athletes.

Last year, tennis star Serena Williams was the only woman to make the ranking, but the athlete has taken time out from the sport to have a baby. Williams earned $18 million in sponsorship fees during the period, but that wasn't enough to merit a top 100 spot.

The magazine said while its list had "long been testosterone-heavy," there had always been between one and three women included since the register was expanded in 2010.

Forbes' earnings figures include all prize money, salaries and bonuses earned between June 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018. Endorsement incomes for the same period are then added on.

2018's highest earner is the now-retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., who raked in an estimated $285 million, according to Forbes.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. throws a punch at Conor McGregor during their super welterweight boxing match on August 26, 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Getty Images

"Money" Mayweather is listed as the world's highest paid athlete for the fourth time in seven years. All but $10 million of the income for 2018 was attributed to his 36 minutes in the ring against UFC's Conor McGregor in August 2017. The Irish fighter himself is ranked fourth on the list, earning a quoted $99 million in the year to June 1. That pair sit on either side of the Spanish-based soccer players Lionel Messi ($111 million) and Cristiano Ronaldo ($108 million).

In its analysis, Forbes claimed that the 2018 combined payout to the top 100 athletes for image rights, memorabilia and appearance fees totaled $877 million.

The average age of this year's top 100 is 31. Golfers Phil Mickelson, who turns 48 this month, and Tiger Woods, 42, are the oldest on the list, closely followed by 41-year-old Mayweather.