Beckham tops soccer earnings list

[AreliusII]

England captain David Beckham is the highest paid football player in the world with annual earnings of about £17m ($32m), a new study suggests.
Beckham's salary from Real Madrid is boosted by advertising contracts of £12.5m, France Football magazine says.

He is followed by team-mates Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane, with Frank Lampard and John Terry of Chelsea and Arsenal's Thierry Henry also making the top 10.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is named the best paid coach, with wages of £5m.

Three other England-based managers come next on the list.

Manchester United's Alex Ferguson is in second place with a salary of £4m; followed by England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson on £3.95m, and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger on £3m.

Tiger stays ahead

Of the 20 highest-paid footballers, eight are members of English Premier League teams; seven play in Spain's Primera Liga; three in Italy's Serie A, and two in Germany's Bundesliga.


Highest paid players
David Beckham (£17m)
Ronaldo (£13.3m)
Zinedine Zidane (£8.8m)
Christian Vieiri (£8.1m)
Alessandro Del Piero (£6.5m)
Frank Lampard (£6.4m)
Raul (£6.3m)
Thierry Henry (£6.2m)
John Terry (£5.8m)
Luis Figo (£5.7m)
Source: France Football

According to the annual survey, Chelsea midfielder Lampard is the highest paid footballer in the world with an annual wage of £5.2m. But his commercial interests are limited to an additional £1.2m, placing him sixth on the list.

Beckham headed France Football's study in 2004. He is paid nearly £4.4m by Real Madrid, plus bonuses - the same as his Real team-mates Ronaldo and Zidane.

There are three other Real players in the top 20 - Raul, Luis Figo and Michael Owen.

Beckham, whose advertising endorsements include Gillette and Pepsi, recently opened his first soccer school in south-east London.

However, he trails behind five other superstars when it comes to world earning power.

Golf ace Tiger Woods is the world's highest paid athlete with earnings of £45m a year, followed by Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, American Football's Archie Manning and basketball's Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4510115.stm

[bordelais7]

Michael Jordan and Archie Manning?

[DadOf8]

Could they mean Peyton Manning as opposed to Archie (heaven knows they don't mean Ely Manning)? Maybe Jordan is still making tons from endorsements, who knows?