Tiger Woods has returned to the top of Forbes magazine’s annual list of 100 highest-paid sports personalities.
Woods had a dramatic fall from grace after the infamous 2009 “Thanksgiving car crash”. He was dropped by no less than five of his sponsors (equating to $50 million in annual income) and lost his No.1 place at the top of the world golf rankings, as well as the breakdown of his marriage.
However, following six victories over the last 12 months, Tiger is back at No.1 on the course and on Forbes’ annual ranking of the world’s highest-paid athletes – the position he occupied each year from 2001 until 2012, when the boxer Floyd Mayweather was at the top.
The 37 year old has earned a total of £50.7m ($78.1m) in the 12 months to 1st June 2013 from prize money, endorsements, appearance fees and golf course design work. His form on the course boosted his prize money over the last year to £8.4m ($13.1m) – two times his total from the previous year. He now has 78 career PGA Tour wins, just four short of the all-time record held by Sam Snead!
The American’s off-course earnings are also increased thanks to sponsor bonuses tied to his strong play. Woods continues to get a considerable payout from his Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game franchise, with up-to-date versions coming out each year by Electronic Arts. This year was the 16th in the series, which is the EA’s fifth largest sports franchise all-time and has created revenues in excess of £483.6m ($754m) in the US alone since its initial launch in 1998 (according to research firm NPD Group).
Tiger has a number of other endorsements including: Nike, Rolex, Upper Deck, TLC Eye Centres, NetJets, Japan’s Kowa and sports nutrition firm Fuse Science.
Nike remains Woods’ largest earner, paying him more than £12.8m ($20m), and the brand is currently on talks with Tiger with regards to a contract extension, which will keep him as the top golf endorse at the £160 billion ($25 billion) in-sales sports giant. Woods first joined up with Nike when he turned pro in 1996 with a five-year, £25.67m ($40m) deal.
Fellow golfer Ernie Els famously referred to the end of the golf season as the time when “you’ve got the wheelbarrow out” for the ridiculous appearance fees splashed out on the world’s top golfers. Woods was in full wheelbarrow mode last year, hauling in more than £6.4m ($10m) in appearance fees from taking part in competitions in Abu Dhabi, China, Malaysia and Turkey. There were also rumours that Tiger was awarded a £0.96m ($1.5m) fee for a PGA Tour stop at West Virginia’s Greenbrier Resort in July, which caused some controversy because appearance fees are against the rules on the US Tour.
Wood’s golf course-design company is also going strongly having increased business after his first projects in Dubai, Mexico and North Carolina were cancelled because of the real estate crash.
Tiger’s latest golf course project is in Cabo, Mexico – El Cardonal at Diamante Cabo San Lucas. He stated “Things are really starting to take shape.”
Other names on the list include the tennis player, Roger Federer who climbed to second on £46.4m ($71.5m) whilst David Beckham, who is now retired, remained in eighth.
The report also showed that Beckham, who is renowned for his global brand, was only joint-fourth highest earner from sponsorship deals.
The former England Captain, who announces his retirement from professional football last month after winning the Ligue 1 title with Paris St-Germain, increased his total earnings to £30.6m ($47.2).
However the £27.3m ($42m) he made from endorsement contracts left him behind Woods, Federer and Phil Mickelson, and alongside basketball player LeBron James.
David Beckham continued to be the highest-paid footballer, in front of the Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo (£28.6m/$44m) and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi (£26.8m/$41.3m), who finished 9th and 10th in the top 10 respectively.
The world No.2 golfer Rory McIlroy earned £19.2m ($29.6m) in total to put him in 21st position, while the English Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton followed in 26th on £17.6m ($27.5m).
