By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday 18 December 2024
Tennis players continue to dominate Forbes’ annual list of the world’s highest-paid female athletes.
Seven of the Top 10 and 14 of the Top 20 on the Forbes list, which was released on December 18, are WTA players, including this year’s cream of the crop Coco Gauffwho surpassed $30 million in earnings to become the third female athlete in history to earn over $30 million in a single year.
Naomi Osakawho reached $57.4 million in earnings in 2021 and Serena Williams, who reached the top with $45.9 million in the same year, are the other two.
Gauff raked in $34.4 million in total earnings, including $25 million from her burgeoning endorsement portfolio, which includes deals with New Balance, Barilla, Ray-Ban, Meta, Beats by Dre and most recently Carol’s Daugher hair care brands, Fanatics and Naked Juice. .
The highest paid female athletes in the world 2024 https://t.co/JJm0u6xnUG pic.twitter.com/nAOznjEc5k
— Forbes (@Forbes) December 18, 2024
Gauff passed the 2023 leader Iga Swiatek on the list, winning the $10 million-plus Grand Champion five times.
Swiatek, who is No. 2 on the Forbes list, earned $23.8 million, including $15 million in endorsements to move up to number four on the list, in China Zheng Qinwen.
Zheng, who won Olympic singles gold, could find her way to the top of the list in the coming years as she dramatically increased her star power in 2024 by reaching her first major final and becoming the first Chinese woman to bring home. gold in Olympic singles tennis.
Zheng added Audi/Milk Tea Chain Chagee, Lancome and phone maker Vivo to her endorsement portfolio and earned a total of $20.6 million, including $15 million from endorsements. Li Na appeared in the Top 10 from 2011 to 2014.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka ($18.7 million, fifth on the list) had her best season as a professional to crack the Forbes top 5. She added a watchmaker and Acai bowl chain Oakberry to her list of sponsorships, as well as two headliners.
via @Forbes 20 highest paid female athletes of 2024 pic.twitter.com/JAfSc8w4w3
— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) December 18, 2024
At No. 6 was Naomi Osaka, who earned $12.9 million, mostly from endorsements to stay connected to Emma Raducanu. Osaka, who earned over $50 million in 2021 and 2022, remains high on the list thanks to more than a dozen sponsorship deals and her production company Hana Kuma.
A poster girl for British Airways, Dior and HSBC, Raducanu is still looking for the success on the court she achieved in 2021 when she won the US Open from qualifying as an 18-year-old. It ranks 57th and won only 900,000 prizes in 2024.
Ninth on the list may come as a surprise because our next player only played two games all season. But never underestimate the power of the Williams sisters. Seven times the main champion comes in place no. 9. She earned $12.1 million from being active on the speaking circuit, making six figures per engagement, and is very active as an entrepreneur. Williams also co-founded Palazzo, an AI-powered interior design platform, and was the model for a barbie doll created as part of the toy’s 65th anniversary.
Jessica Pegula ($10.2 million), Jasmine Paolini ($8 million), Elena Rybakina ($7.9 million) and Leylah Fernandez ($6.5 million) also made the Top 20 on the Forbes list.
