Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi Top The World's Highest Paid Soccer Players

Cristiano Ronaldo is a human billboard. His hair is by Clear, his scent, underwear and shirt by his namesake brand, his shoes alternate between that same brand and Nike NKE -3.56%, his suit by Sacoor Brothers, his watch by Tag Heuer, his headphones by Monster, his abs by Sixpad Training Gear, and the rest of his fit body by Herbalife . In total the 31-year old Portuguese poster boy made $29 million from endorsements last year.

That’s a bargain for the most popular athlete in the world, at least by social media standards. In February he officially became the first athlete to reach over 200 million social media followers; as of press date he tops 210 million with 111.4 million on Facebook, 42.1 million on Twitter and 57.3 million on Instagram. In comparison LeBron James, two-time NBA champion, four-time MVP and basketball’s most popular player with only 73.5 million total social media followers, banked $48 million off the Cleveland Cavaliers’ court.
Hold your pity. Combined with his $53 million in salary and bonus from Real Madrid, the world’s most valuable soccer club worth $3.6 billion mainly on a chart-topping $694 in revenue, Ronaldo earned $82 million last year to not only rank as the world’s highest-paid footballer but the world’s highest-paid team athlete.
That’s the going rate for being the all-time leading goal scorer in the UEFA Champions League with 93 goals (and a chance to up that tally and add a third Champions League trophy to his shelf when Real face Atletico Madrid in the final on May 28), Real Madrid’s all-time leading scorer, the reigning and four-time European Golden Boot winner, and a three-time FIFA player of the year .
The prolific-scoring winger banked $5 million more than Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, the second highest-paid footballer and reigning FIFA player of the year, who earned $77 million last year — $51 million in salary and bonus and $26 milllion in endorsements from the likes of Adidas, Gatorade, Lays and EA Sports.

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More accurately, Ronaldo earned $2 million more for producing a combined 71 goals and assists in 2015 versus Messi’s combined total of 70, and earned $3 million more for promoting his brand and sponsors to 82 million more fans than Messi has on social media.
Or to Team Messi fans, for whom Ronaldo seems to exist only to serve as villain to their hero, their 28-year old Argentine striker made less for picking up a record fifth FIFA player of the year award, being Barca’s all-time leading scorer, being the first player ever to score 300 goals in La Liga, leading his club in goals and assists on its way to winning the Treble last season, and being the highest ranked active athlete, one ahead of Ronaldo, in The Marketing Arm’s global celebrity index powered by Repucom that measures celebrity influence.
But putting aside the best rivalry in all of sports, the real comparison is how Messi and Ronaldo stack up financially against everyone else.