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8 Athletes Who Made More Money Endorsing Products Than Playing Sports This Past Year
Professional athletes make more money in a year’s salary than most people make in a lifetime. When you add in the money made from endorsement deals, some athletes’ total earnings near the billion dollar mark. In fact, a few of these sports figures make more money filming a commercial than playing in a giant stadium. Especially golfers and race car drivers who make most of their money hawking products.
Checkout this interesting list of the 8 Athletes Who Made More Money Endorsing Products Than Playing Sports This Past Year.
Jimmie Johnson – 62% spokesman, 38% athlete
Endorsements: $12,000,000
Salary/Winnings: $7,264,780
Jimmie Johnson has endorsement deals with Lowe’s Hardware, Quaker State, and Chevrolet.
Source: Sports Illustrated
LeBron James – 67% spokesman, 33% athlete
Endorsements: $30,000,000
Salary/Earnings: $14,500,000
LeBron James has endorsement deals with Nike, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and State Farm Insurance.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Kevin Durant – 70% spokesman, 30% athlete
Image: Wkimedia Commons
Endorsements: $14,000,000
Salary/Earnings: $6,053,663
Kevin Durant has endorsements from Nike, Gatorade, and EA Sports.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Jeff Gordon – 76% spokesman, 24% athlete
Image: JeffGordon.com
Endorsements: $18,000,000
Salary/Earnings: $5,703,710
Jeff Gordon has endorsements from Pepsi, DuPont, Chevrolet, Quaker State, and Goodyear
Source: Sports Illustrated
Dale Earnhart, Jr. – 83% spokesman, 17% athlete
Endorsements: $22,000,000
Salary/Earnings: $4,572,930
Dale Earnhart, Jr. has endorsement deals with Wrangler jeans, Chevrolet, AMP Energy, and Adidas.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Phil Mickelson – 93% spokesman, 7% athlete
Endorsements: $57,000,000
Salary/Earnings: $4,185,933
Phil Mickelson has endorsement deals with Callaway, KPMG, Rolex, and Barclays.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Tiger Woods – 96% spokesman, 4% athlete
Image: YouTube
Endorsements: $60,000,000
Salary/Earnings: $2,294,116
Tiger Woods has endorsement deals with Nike, EA Sports, and Kowa.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Kevin Garnett – 43% pitchman, 57% athlete
Image: AP
Endorsements: $14,000,000
Salary/Earnings: $18,832,044
Kevin Garnett has endorsement deals with Zico and ANTA (his long deal with Adidas recently expired).
Source: Sports Illustrated