LeBron’s Endorsement Earnings More Than Top 10 MLB Players Combined

Much of the gap is due to the extremely lucrative nature of shoe deals. While there is little interest in cleats worn by NFL and MLB players, sneakers worn by stars like Bryant and James are in high demand. Top NBA stars can earn $10 million a year from companies like Nike and Adidas.

LeBron has deals with brands including Samsung, Nike, McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Upper Deck, Audemars Piguet and Dunkin’ Donuts.

In a sign of just how global the NBA has become, the only sport where top athletes rival it in endorsements is soccer. According to Forbes, David Beckham, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo each made more than $20 million in endorsements, and the top 10 soccer earners came in at $120 million.

Forbes also reported that Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki were the only two MLB players to earn more than $3 million from sponsors and merchandise. And in Ichiro’s case, his deals were all in Japan.

Article Appeared @http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201402/lebrons-endorsement-earnings-are-greater-top-10-mlb-players

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *