How do these soccer salaries compare to highest paid US athletes?

Curious to see how these soccer players do compared to what US athletes make? I have no clue how much the highest paid athlete in the US makes. Any input much appreciated.

Lionel Messi, Argentinian who plays for Barcelona FC (Spain)
Worth: 254 million euros
Monthly salary: 1.25 million euros

Ricardo "Kaka", Brazilian who plays for AC Milan (Italy)
Monthly salary: 750 000 euros

Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese who plays for Manchester United (England)
Montly salary: 740 000 euros

Ronaldinho, Brazilian who plays for AC Milan (Italy)
Monthly salary: 710 000 euros

This is just what they're paid by their team. No endorsements or stuff like that.

Saw this in the local news last night, they didn't quote their source and I haven't been able to find it online.

Messi gets almost $20 million American.......A-Rod is America's highest paid athlete making $27 million a year

<table align="left" bgcolor="#cccccc" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="347"><tbody><tr><td colspan="3" bgcolor="#003366"></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1. Kevin Garnett Boston[/FONT]</td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2. Stephon Marbury New York[/FONT]</td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-. Allen Iverson Detroit[/FONT]</td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4. Jason Kidd Dallas[/FONT]</td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5. Jermaine O'Neal Toronto[/FONT]</td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]6. Kobe Bryant LA Lakers[/FONT]</td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]7. Tracy McGrady Houston[/FONT]</td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]8. Tim Duncan San Antonio[/FONT]</td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]9. Shaquille O'Neal Phoenix[/FONT]</td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]10. Steve Francis Portland / Memphis[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]11. Dirk Nowitzki Dallas[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-. Paul Pierce Boston[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-. Shawn Marion Miami[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]14. Ray Allen Boston[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td></td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]16. Michael Redd Milwaukee[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]17. Mike Bibby Atlanta[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]18. Vince Carter New Jersey[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]19. Andrei Kirilenko Utah[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-. Pau Gasol LA Lakers[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]21. Yao Ming Houston[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-. Amare Stoudemire Phoenix[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]23. Zach Randolph LA Clippers[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]24. Lamar Odom LA Lakers[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td></td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td></td> <td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]27. Chris Bosh Toronto[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-. Dwyane Wade Miami[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-. Carmelo Anthony Denver[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-. LeBron James Cleveland[/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td></tr></tbody></table>



































<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="100%"><tbody><tr id="special" class="bg4" align="left"><td class="bg1" align="left">No.</td><td class="bg1" align="left">Player/Team</td><td class="bg1" align="right">Salary</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">1.</td><td align="left">Alex Rodriguez, NYY</td><td align="right">$28,000,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">2.</td><td align="left">Jason Giambi, NYY</td><td align="right">$23,428,571</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">3.</td><td align="left">Derek Jeter, NYY</td><td align="right">$21,600,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">4.</td><td align="left">Manny Ramirez, BOS</td><td align="right">$18,929,923</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">5.</td><td align="left">Carlos Beltran, NYM</td><td align="right">$18,622,810</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">6.</td><td align="left">Ichiro Suzuki, SEA</td><td align="right">$17,102,149</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">7.</td><td align="left">Johan Santana, NYM</td><td align="right">$16,984,216</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">8.</td><td align="left">Todd Helton, COL</td><td align="right">$16,600,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">9.</td><td align="left">Torii Hunter, ANA</td><td align="right">$16,500,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">10t.</td><td align="left">Bobby Abreu, NYY</td><td align="right">$16,000,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">10t.</td><td align="left">Carlos Delgado, NYM</td><td align="right">$16,000,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">10t.</td><td align="left">Andy Pettitte, NYY</td><td align="right">$16,000,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">10t.</td><td align="left">Carlos Zambrano, CHC</td><td align="right">$16,000,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">14.</td><td align="left">Mike Hampton, ATL</td><td align="right">$15,975,185</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">15.</td><td align="left">Magglio Ordonez, DET</td><td align="right">$15,768,175</td></tr><tr class="bgF" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left"> 16.</td><td align="left">Rafael Furcal, LA</td><td align="right">$15,730,196</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">17.</td><td align="left">Jim Thome, CHW</td><td align="right">$15,666,667</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">18t.</td><td align="left">Vladimir Guerrero, ANA</td><td align="right">$15,500,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">18t.</td><td align="left">Tim Hudson, ATL</td><td align="right">$15,500,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">18t.</td><td align="left">Richie Sexson, SEA</td><td align="right">$15,500,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">21.</td><td align="left">Aramis Ramirez, CHC</td><td align="right">$15,250,000</td></tr><tr class="bgF" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left"> 22.</td><td align="left">Jason Schmidt, LA</td><td align="right">$15,217,401</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">23.</td><td align="left">Randy Johnson, ARI</td><td align="right">$15,100,546</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">24.</td><td align="left">Mariano Rivera, NYY</td><td align="right">$15,000,000</td></tr><tr class="bg2" align="right" valign="middle" height="17"><td align="left">25.</td><td align="left">Miguel Tejada, HOU</td><td align="right">$14,811,415</td></tr></tbody></table>

NFL salaries are hard to judge. The salary itself often isn't that high (relatively speaking), b/c they get massive signing bonuses up front. So a guy could make $25,000,000 in bonus + $8mm in salary one year and only make $8mm the next.

Cool guys. Thanks.

For 2008....per Sports Illustrated

1. Tiger Woods: 22.9M in salary, 105M in endorsements: TOTAL 127.9M
2. Phil Mickelson: 9.3M in salary, 53M in endorsements: TOTAL 63.3M
3. Lebron James: 12.45M salary, 28M in endorsements: TOTAL 40.45M
4. Floyd Mayweather: 20M salary, 20.25M endorsement: TOTAL 40.25M
5. Kobe Bryant: 19.4M salary, 16M endorse: TOTAL 35.4M
6. Shaq: 20M, 15M :TOTAL 35M
6. AROD: 29M, 6M: TOTAL 35M
8. Kevin Garnett; 22M, 9M: TOTAL 31M
9. Peyton Manning, 17.5M, 13M: TOTAL 30.5M
10. Derek Jeter, 22M, 8M: Total 30M
11. dale jr.
12. allen iverson
13. kevin durant
14. jeff gordan
15. ben roethlisberger
16-19. NBAers
20. Manny Ramirez

Lionel Messi is a freekin stud. Guy is underpaid.

How about I have never even heard of Lionel Messi until I read this thread.

The most beautiful sport in the World.

This is Messi...

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Awesome play at 4:15.

I would sell my soul to have a salary like these people.

I thought Ronahdinho from brazil made 33 milliion/year. thought I heard during the WC a few years back.

romer said:

I would sell my soul to have a salary like these people.

Click to expand...

Paging Hunter S. Thompson

Kornholio said:

I thought Ronahdinho from brazil made 33 milliion/year. thought I heard during the WC a few years back.

Click to expand...

Pretty much bang on

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/specials/fortunate50/2008/index.20.html

The above is SI's list of the highest international salary figures in 2008.

Also soccer contracts are not as wide open as players who play in North American sports. There is the standard per week salary these guys make but stuff like image rights, appearance fees, per goal bonus and team performance bonus are always hard to get info on.

Jack Herer said:

Curious to see how these soccer players do compared to what US athletes make? I have no clue how much the highest paid athlete in the US makes. Any input much appreciated.

Lionel Messi, Argentinian who plays for Barcelona FC (Spain)
Worth: 254 million euros
Monthly salary: 1.25 million euros

Ricardo "Kaka", Brazilian who plays for AC Milan (Italy)
Monthly salary: 750 000 euros

Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese who plays for Manchester United (England)
Montly salary: 740 000 euros

Ronaldinho, Brazilian who plays for AC Milan (Italy)
Monthly salary: 710 000 euros

This is just what they're paid by their team. No endorsements or stuff like that.

Saw this in the local news last night, they didn't quote their source and I haven't been able to find it online.

Click to expand...

Just to add a minor note on this part

Lionel Messi, Argentinian who plays for Barcelona FC (Spain)
Worth: 254 million euros
Monthly salary: 1.25 million euros

You can argue that Messi is worth 254 million euros but what that figure is referring to is his minimum release clause in his contact.

Just about every player who plays in Spain and Brazil (and on the flip side very few outside of those countries) have a minimum release clause written into their contract by their agent.

What it means is for example Real Madrid comes up with a bid of 254 million euros for Messi, Barcelona can not say no to the offer and has to allow Messi to speak with Real Madrid regarding signing with them. Barcelona in return for giving Messi so much money gets his agent to make his min release clause so high it would be foolish for any team to match it.

As example of this would be Ronaldinho, Barcelona's former golden child had a min release clause of 85m euros but Barcelona sold him this summer to A.C Milan for 18m.