Who Are the Highest-Paid Female Athletes?

may 06, 2019

Source: Wikimedia Whether it is from prize money or from their deals to sell their image rights, top sportspeople can earn huge sums during the course of their careers. Nowadays, the top earning female sports stars will have a much higher than average income. Against this should be balanced the fact that women still earn less – on average – than their male counterparts and that sporting careers are relatively short-lived. That said, many of the best-known female sports personalities will go on to enjoy earnings well after they have retired, usually from media careers and from product endorsements.  Although many of the top earning female competitors are tennis professionals, this is by no means the only sport that produces top earners. If a career of competing in top level sport is not for you, then perhaps you can hit the big time by enjoying some online gambling instead? That said, you will have to win relatively big to match some of the top female sports earners of 2018.

Serena Williams

Williams made $62,000 in prize money over the course of 2018. However, her endorsement earnings dwarfed that sum, netting her an estimated $18 million. Williams has earned more from sport than any other woman in history.

Caroline Wozniacki

The tennis star has some big brand name endorsements, not least a deal with Rolex. She earned a stunning $7 million in prize money, only just outstripping her income from brand endorsements.

Sloane Stephens

Stephens obtained deals to promote the likes of Nike, Mercedes-Benz and Colgate following her first US grand slam in 2017. Last year, she earned a combined total of over $11 million, approximately half from prize money and half from sponsorships.

Garbine Muguruza

Another tennis player, Mugurza earned on a little less than Stephens in 2018. She has endorsement deals with Babolat, Beats by Dre, Rolex and the sports brand Adidas which awarded her a big bonus thanks, in part, to her victory at Wimbledon.

Maria Sharapova

By the standards of top-earning tennis stars, the Russian palyer only won a modest $1 million from her tournament games in 2018. Nevertheless, the bankable Sharapova is loved by big brands and she managed to net an amazing $9.5 million from endorsements including deals with Head, Porsche and Evian, among others.

Venus Williams

The other Williams sister occupies second place on the all-time list of women who have earned big from sporting careers. In 2018, Venus earned a little over $10 million. She earned $4.2 million in prize money and the rest came from her other sports related activities which includes a $100,000-a-time fee for giving talks on tennis.

PV Sindhu

Source: Wikimedia The top earning female athlete of 2018 who is not a tennis star, Sindhu is the leading Indian badminton player of her generation. An Olympic silver medallist, she won $500,00 in prize money last year but around $8 million from endorsing brands like Nokia and Panasonic.

Simona Halep

With $6.2 million to her name in 2018 from prize money, Halep also earned a further $1.5 million thanks to her brand endorsements.

Danica Patrick

Patrick's salary as a NASCAR racing driver is said to net her an annual income of about $3 million. In addition, the sports star gained a further $4.5 million from her fitness book and brand promotion activities last year.

Angelique Kerber

The German tennis player made $3 million in prize money over the course of 2018. She counts Porsche and Yonex among her brand sponsors, helping her to gain a further $4 million in earnings last year.