Australian Open champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams are major winners again.
The 35-year-old superstars rank alongside global brands Nike, Pepsi and Budweiser and iconic franchises Real Madrid, the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys on the Forbes Sports Money Index released this month.
Forbes calls its list “the definitive ranking in sports.”
See the Full List Here
The magazine ranked a total of 430 athletes, agencies, teams and brands on their value and influence with others in the sports world. Forbes combined its various annual lists, including its highest-paid and most valuable sports brand lists, to create a single ranking “that reflects their monetary success and how their values affect one another.”
Nike tops the list followed by Pepsi, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo at No. 5.
Eighteen-time Grand Slam champion Federer ranks No. 75—one spot ahead of his former management company WME-IMG and three spots ahead of New York City’s beloved Mets.
The Swiss Maestro also earns supremacy over the World Series champion Chicago Cubs, who rank No. 87 on the list.
Serena Williams, whom Forbes cites as the world’s highest-paid female athlete in 2016 with $28.9 million in earnings, ranks No. 99 on the list. That makes the Serena the top-ranking woman on the Forbes list, putting her in company with soccer star Bastian Schweinsteiger, who ranks No. 95, and golfer Tiger Woods at No. 96.
A trio of former world No. 1 players – Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova – also cracked the Top 200.
Nadal, who earned $37.5 million in 2016, ranks No. 143. Djokovic, who amassed $55.8 million in earnings last year, ranks No. 144. Sharapova, who still earned $21.9 million last year, including $20 million in endorsements, despite missing much of the year while serving a doping suspension, ranks No. 145.
Read the full Forbes Sports Money Index here.
Photo credit: Forbes