Conor McGregor up 61 places in Forbes highest-paid list

Forbes has again revealed Cristiano Ronaldo as the highest-paid athlete in the world, with the Real Madrid striker topping the charts for a second year running with earnings of $93 million (€83m).

That's a $5 million upgrade on last year, when he took the accolade from the grips of Tiger Woods and Floyd Mayweather; one of whom had topped the list for 15 straight years previously.

Woods ranks No. 17 this year, while Mayweather did not make the cut, having had no fights over the last 12 months.

The man reported to be enticing Mayweather back into the ring however, Conor McGregor, is up 61 places to 24th.

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The double-weight UFC champion has been given a projected annual earning of $34 million (€30.25m), the same figure as Ronaldo's Madrid team mate Gareth Bale.

Irish golfer Rory McIlroy is up to joint sixth, from last year’s 17th place, following multi-million sponsorship deals with Nike and TaylorMade.

The 28 year-old earned $50 million (€44 million) in combined salaries, prize money and sponsorship between June of last year, and June of this year.

The list of elite athletes consists of players from 11 different sports. Basketball dominates the list with a record 32 NBA players among the top 100, up from 18 in 2016, followed by baseball with 22 players, American football with 15 and soccer with nine.

The top 100 athletes earned a total of $3.11 billion over the last 12 months, a slight decrease from last year’s earnings of $3.15 billion.

There are 21 countries represented on the list, with Americans (63) the most prevalent thanks to sky-high salaries in basketball, American football and baseball.

*Forbes’ Methodology: “earnings figures include all salaries and bonuses earned between June 1st 2016 and June 1st 2017. Endorsement incomes are an estimate of sponsorship deals, appearance fees and licensing income for the 12 months through June 1st based on conversations with dozens of industry insiders.

“The golfers’ income includes course design work. We do not deduct for taxes or agents’ fees, nor do we include investment income. Our list includes only athletes active in the last 12 months.”