Highest paid female sportswomen of the present era

Highest paid female sportswomen of the present era

The pay disparity between female and male sports persons is nothing new. However, it can come across as awfully staggering if you look at the real figures. For instance, Lionel Messi, the world’s highest-paid athlete in 2019 made close $ 127 million both from football as well as endorsements. On the other hand, the world’s highest-paid female sports person made almost $ 100 million less, only 23% of Messi’s earnings!

Another major fact that stands out is the lack of sports variety when we look at the earnings of female athletes. The highest-paid male sports persons come from multiple sports disciplines including football, soccer, basketball, baseball and motorsports. However, in case of the 12 richest sportswomen, 11 of them are tennis players. Let’s take you through some of these highest-paid female sportswomen of the present era.

Serena Williams – Made $ 29.2 million in 2019

Serena Williams yet again took the top spot as the highest-paid female athlete in 2019. She was the only female sports person to make it to the Forbes list of 100 highest-paid athletes. Counted amongst the best sportswomen of her era, Serena Williams continues to deliver at the top level, making into Grand Slam finals consistently, last in Wimbledon 2019, where she lost to Simona Halep. Her last Grand Slam victory came in the year 2017, in Australian open.

Serena Williams’ legacy is expected to stay alive for a very long time. As per Forbes, $25 million of her earnings last year came through endorsements, which she has been associated with for almost two decades now. She has also won multiple Olympic gold medals, majority of which came in the doubles competition, along with her sister and another renowned tennis player Venus Williams.

Naomi Osaka – Made $ 24.3 million in 2019

While Serena Williams leads the veterans’ category of female tennis players, Naomi Osaka has emerged as a bright young star of the sport today. When both of them played each other in the 2018 US open finals, it was Osaka who won quite comfortably. She is no longer an emerging star and has gradually firmed up her place as amongst the best female tennis players of the current generation.

It is players like Naomi Osaka who have ensured that feminism stays alive and rises constantly in the world of sport. She followed her incredible victory over Serena Williams, with another major Grand Slam victory in 2019 Australian Open. Of her earnings last year, $16 million came through endorsements.

Angelique Kerber – Made $ 11.8 million in 2019

Having turned pro in the year 2003, Angelique Kerber has won three Grand Slam titles till date. She peaked as a player in 2016, getting ranked as the top tennis player by the WTA. It was also the year when she won couple of Grand Slam titles – U.S. Open and Australian open. In the year 2018, Kerber won Wimbledon and made it quite deep into French Open and Australian Open.

Her pay is divided evenly between endorsements and winnings, with the figures slightly tilting towards endorsement. Her phenomenal success over the past few years have got her some extremely lucrative deals with brands like Rolex, Porsche and Adidas.