Sport > World > Lists > Sports Illustrated

The Sports Illustrated magazine has for many years been publishing lists of top paid sports men and women. Since 2004, they have published the Fortunate 50, the top paid sports people from the USA, and the International 20, which includes only those outside of the USA.

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Sports Illustrated do not publish a list combining these two, which would be a list of the world's top paid sports people - maybe because Forbes Magazine already publish a similar list of the World's Best Paid Athletes. It is a simple process to compare the earnings of the top athletes in the Fortunate 50 and the International 20, to create the World Top Paid List, which I have done. See the SI World's Best Paid Sports People. The Sports Illustrated lists differ from the Forbes lists in that SI only include athletes currently active in their sports.

* the top paid internationals list for 2004 is estimated based on unofficial figures found online.

Top Paid Athlete for Each Year

Here are the top earners in the world of sports for each year that Sports Illustrated magazine has published athlete earnings. Tiger Woods was on the top of the list for every year, until 2012! For the top 10 paid athletes from each year, click on the year number. For top paid athletes from earlier years see the similar Forbes Lists.

There appears to be no list published for 2015 :(

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Related Pages

• Other sporting lists, including the Forbes list of the World's Best Paid Athletes
• Highest paid sportswomen
• More about the World of Sport