Among World's 100 Highest Paid Athletes, 0 Women

Boxer Floyd Mayweather comes out on top
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 8, 2018 8:31 AM CDT
Among World's 100 Highest Paid Athletes, 0 Women
Floyd Mayweather, right, hits Conor McGregor during a super welterweight boxing match in Las Vegas on Aug. 26, 2017.   (AP Photo/Eric Jamison, File)

Women in sports say Forbes' annual list of the world's highest-paid athletes is proof that the gender pay gap is real and pressing. That's because—for the first time in eight years—not a single woman made the cut. The highest-paid female athlete in 2017—the year she gave birth to a daughter—was Serena Williams. Her $18 million puts her roughly $5 million below the take of the man to hold the 100th spot, Nicolas Batum of the Charlotte Hornets, who made $22.9 million, reports NBC News. "When more men in power become allies and care about gender equality, the power differential will shift," former tennis champ Billie Jean King says in a tweet. They top-earners for 2017 are:

  1. Floyd Mayweather (boxing): $285 million
  2. Lionel Messi (soccer): $111 million
  3. Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer): $108 million
  4. Conor McGregor (MMA): $99 million
  5. Neymar (soccer): $90 million

  1. LeBron James (basketball): $85.5 million
  2. Roger Federer (tennis): $77.2 million
  3. Stephen Curry (basketball): $76.9 million
  4. Matt Ryan (football): $67.3 million
  5. Matthew Stafford (football): $59.5 million
Stafford is also the NFL's highest-paid player ever. The full list of 100 is here. (More athletes stories.)

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