Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably one of the world’s most marketable athletes. Just the news of his transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus boosted Juve’s stock values by 20% in a single day in 2018. Moments after the momentous announcement rocked the football world, the Turin-based club received 1.5 million Instagram followers thanks to his massive fan base.
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Brands would pay anything to have Ronaldo as their ambassador because he is such a powerful and well-known athlete. Notably, Ronaldo has surpassed his renowned colleagues to become the highest-paid footballer in the world this year. While he is the highest-paid footballer, is he the highest-paid athlete?
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Soccer Football – Champions League – Group F – BSC Young Boys v Manchester United – Stadion Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland- September 14, 2021 Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their first goal with Jadon Sancho REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Conor Mcgregor tops the list of highest-paid athletes of 2020
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Forbes recently released a list of the world’s highest-paid athletes of 2020. UFC fighter Conor Mcgregor topped that list. The Irishman made a total of $180 million in the last 12 months, the majority of which came from the $150 million sales of his controlling ownership in whiskey brand Proper No. Twelve to Proximo Spirits.
When you factor in his endorsements, McGregor earned $158 million outside of his fighting career in the last year, making him only the third athlete after Roger Federer and Tiger Woods to make more than $70 million off the field while still competing.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 10: Conor McGregor of Ireland prepares to fight Dustin Poirier during the UFC 264 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 10, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
“I’ll get ya” – Conor Mcgregor promise of overtaking Cristiano Ronaldo as the highest-paid athlete from 2016 goes viral
In a video that has surfaced online recently, Conor Mcgregor is seen speaking to Ronaldo about being the richest athlete. He first asks the Portuguese if he has a jet to which CR7 replies in affirmation. After asking Ronaldo if he ‘has a jet’, McGregor says, “I wanna get a jet someday. You were number one on the Forbes list, I was like number 35. I’ll get up [there].”
After the pair broke into laughter, Ronaldo asked: “Your ranking?” McGregor replied: “Something like that, 38 I think.” Ronaldo then cheekily teases McGregor that he is ‘first’ on the list, which promotes the Irishman to say: “Maybe next year I’ll get ya.” And he did get above Ronaldo, not in 2017 but in 2021.
