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'It makes my blood boil': Roz Kelly left fuming after highest paid athletes of 2024 revealed

February 13, 2025 - 10.16pm

Experienced sports journalist and TV presenter Roz Kelly was left fuming after the world's top 100 paid athletes for 2024 were revealed.

Sportico released the list on Friday morning and there is a concerning theme.

Not a single female athlete features in the top 100 spots.

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The figures combine their reported annual salary as well as endorsement deals.

American tennis superstar Coco Gauff earned $47 million last year but falls more than $11m shy of the 100th spot on the list.

The lucrative list is topped by football icon Cristiano Ronaldo, who reportedly pocketed $411m across the year.

"It makes my blood boil, it makes me so, so angry," Kelly said on Nine's Today.

"It's just proof of the gender pay gap in sport.

"Some of these women are some of the most marketable in the world right now, they are on billboards everywhere.

"I know like tennis players and surfers, they have equal prize money. There's still a long way to go in cricket, and soccer... I'm on a rant now.

"When it comes to endorsement deals they are severely underpaid compared to their male counterparts."

Five of the top 10 paid athletes in 2024 were football players, while basketball, golf, and American football also feature heavily in the top 20.

Ben Simmons is the lone Aussie athlete in the top 100 after he earned $65m last year.

He comes in at 85th on the list.

*all figures converted to AUD

Cristiano Ronaldo (football) - $411m

Stephen Curry (basketball) - $243

Tyson Fury (boxing) - $233m

Lionel Messi (football) - $214m

LeBron James (basketball) - $211m

Neymar (football) - $211m

Oleksander Usyk (boxing) - $193m

Karim Benzema (football) - $184m

Kylian Mbappe (football) - $174m

Jon Rahm (golf) - $167m

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