Have the Top Ten Paid Athletes earned their keep in year 2010?

As 2010 comes to a close, Sports Analytics Inc believed it was fitting to determine if the top ten paid sports athletes in the world had earned their keep and look to earn their keep in 2011 from a speculative perspective:

1

Tiger Woods

Golf

Last Year's Rank: 1

Salary / Winnings	$20,508,163
Endorsements	$70,000,000
Total	$90,508,163

Tiger's off-course troubles cost him millions in endorsements -- he was dropped by Gatorade, AT&T and Accenture. But a $10 million FedEx Cup bonus helps keep him at his usual No. 1 perch. The year's top earner was no surprise, being Tiger Woods, however Tiger's performances on the golf course since he sex scandal has impacted him significantly psychologically getting into his head in many rounds inhibiting him from playing four solid rounds of golf for the win. Furthermore Tiger has been in the midst of his 3rd major golf swing of his career which is taking him much longer to grasp and 'bed' down as his standard sublime swing like previous years. At the back end of 2010 Tiger has started to again feature prominently in the top echelon in some tournaments, which might mean his form is returning which means his Salary and Winnings might start to be more than just appearance fees in 2011.

2

Phil Mickelson

Golf

Last Year's Rank: 2

Salary / Winnings	$9,660,757
Endorsements	$52,000,000
Total	$61,660,757

Phil Mickelson returned to the top with his win in the Masters and the promotion of his signature Golf Club lines. Furthermore Tiger’s demise saw the fan base returning and rooting for the big left-hander. This saw his endorsements outweigh his salary and winnings by a whopping 577%. Moving into 2011, Phil needs to remain at the top of his game to compete against a Tiger Woods slowly returning to form.

3

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Boxing

Last Year's Rank: NR

Salary / Winnings	$60,000,000
Endorsements	$250,000
Total	$60,250,000

Pretty Boy shoots back into the top five after a one-year absence thanks to earnings from bouts with Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley, the latter of which netted $40 million in purses and pay-per-view sales. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao pending fight will most likely shoot Floyd Mayweather to No.1 if he wins come 2011. Regardless of the outcome with Pacquiao a fight of this proportion might net him more from just one fight next year than he his two bouts this year. At Sports Analytics Inc we are rooting for a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout come March 2011. We are salivating at the mouth just thinking about this.

4

LeBron James

Miami Heat (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 3

Salary / Winnings	$15,779,912
Endorsements	$30,000,000
Total	$45,779,912

LeBron relinquished a salary of near 25-30 million to sacrifice a bigger bank balance to fight for a championship with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh when me moved to Miami and turned his back on Cleveland. Much to past Hall of Famer’s disgust of banding with stars to win, LeBron has started the first quarter of the NBA season with Miami in below par form but hopefully as 2011 rolls around we will start to see the $25M  LeBron and not the $15M LeBron. However should Miami get close to winning the championship and throughout the season LeBron repairs the perception of traitor, his likely pulling power in endorsements will go through the roof, with signature shoes, clothes, merchandise, and nutritional advocate roles surely to come his way.

5

Alex Rodriguez

New York Yankees (MLB)

Last Year's Rank: 4

Salary / Winnings	$33,000,000
Endorsements	$4,000,000
Total	$37,000,000

A-Rod remained Baseball’s highest paid player, however with many off-field events putting him the tabloids hi endorsements were just a measly 12% of his total salary. As the MLB’s best baseballer and hitter, if A-Rod keeps a squeaky clean image next year, his endorsements will be sure to rise. The key to enhance this man’s pay-packet is to start also promoting himself, whilst not the most personable athlete going around, the public like charisma and need the best players to display charisma. Surely this cannot hurt A-Rod’s pay-packet.

6

Shaquille O'Neal

Boston Celtics (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 5.

Salary / Winnings	$21,000,000
Endorsements	$15,000,000
Total	$36,000,000

Whilst Shaq is in the twilight years of his career, the big man rakes in the money no matter where he ends up. Despite leaving Cleveland and heading the Boston Celtics, Shaq will still make significant money from his endorsements, though he is likely to slide with him agreeing to take significant less money this season at $1.3M only for him playing in a loaded Celtics roster. This should not matter, as he is easily the all-time NBA leader in total salary: Over an 18-year career, he has earned more than $290 million. No doubt after this season the Big Diesel has a lucrative TV career ahead of him.

7

 

Kobe Bryant

Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 7

Salary / Winnings	$23,034,375
Endorsements	$10,000,000
Total	$33,034,375

Kobe now has something else in common with Michael Jordan. His extension has him due to earn $30 million in 2013-14. The only other player ever to earn that much in one season? Jordan. If Kobe wins another championship he becomes equal to Michael Jordan and after him recovering his image from his early days, it’s fair to say if the LA Lakers three-peat this season, Kobe next year will sky-rocket to the top due to endorsements and a whopping salary coming his way from a back-ended contract. With next season and beyond's massive takings, Kobe will surpass his good old mate big Diesel Shaq

8

 

Derek Jeter

New York Yankees (MLB)

Last Year's Rank: 9

Salary / Winnings	$21,000,000
Endorsements	$10,000,000
Total	$31,000,000

The Yankee captain is in the final year of the 10-year, $189 million pact he signed as a 26-year-old. It’s fair to say that Jeter will drop out of the top 10 next year, as his new deal will be for the twilight years of his career, regardless if Steinbrenner and Yankees resign the New York captain.

9

Peyton Manning

Indianapolis Colts (NFL)

Last Year's Rank: 10

Salary / Winnings	$15,800,000
Endorsements	$15,000,000
Total	$30,800,000

The clean-cut straight down the line quarterback is now the most marketable and best sporting role model. With the Indianapolis Colts having another stellar year mainly to the inspired play from Peyton. If Indianapolis take the cream from the NFL this year, Mr. Role Model is likely going to further shoot up the charts next year.

10

Dwyane Wade

Miami Heat (NBA)

Last Year's Rank: 12

Salary / Winnings	$15,779,912
Endorsements	$12,000,000
Total	$27,779,912

Wade became the biggest star in free agency, convincing LeBron James and Chris Bosh to sign with Miami. While Wade took less money to stay in South Beach, however should the Miami Heat win the championship or at the very least go deep, there is a huge opportunity to rake in the endorsements and further climb the charts in 2011. However if things do not work out in Miami and off-court egos and politics come into play, the future endorsement treasure chest might evaporate.