Shaquille O'Neal

The average salary for athletes in the United States is around $49,143 per year. Not however, if you play in the NBA where the average salary is projected to be around $8 million this year. Even then, though, earnings vary greatly. While some of the top players (we’re looking at you, Stephen Curry) earned over $45 million last year, others didn’t even reach the million-dollar mark.

All sports aren’t created equal though and basketball doesn’t even make the top five highest earning sports. Ice hockey, tennis and soccer stars round out the top three, with athletes in those sports able to build a huge amount of wealth from their appearance fees alone.

Still, there’s always ways for athletes to increase their earnings. UFC fighter Conor McGregor managed to be the top earning athlete in 2021, but a sizeable amount of his income was due the sale of his majority stake in Irish whiskey distiller Proper No. Twelve. However, opportunities for athletes go well beyond business deals.

As is the case with actors, musicians and other celebrities, the golden ticket to building an athlete’s net worth tends to lie in endorsements, sponsorships and selling their name (and often photos) wherever they can. Athletes have to be careful about what they do and say though… more than a few athletes have lost their product endorsements and been dropped by a brand over a scandal or unwise comment.