Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the most popular sports player in the world by ESPN beating LeBron James and rival Lionel Messi to the top of the pile.
Ronaldo fresh from his Champions League triumph with Real Madrid is 1st in ESPN’s ranking about the 100 most popular athletes in the world, built using an algorithm to combine earnings, followers on social media and Google searches.
The top 10 on that ranking features only two NBA players in LeBron James and Kevin Durant, leaving reigning Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry out.
Rafael Nadal is number ten amongst the athletes in the ranking.
Top 10 most famous athletes
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Salary/earnings: 50 million Euros.
Sponsorships: 25 million Euros.
Likes on Facebook: 110.8 million.
Followers on Twitter: 40.8 million.
2. LeBron James
Salary/earnings: 21 million Euros.
Sponsorships: 40 million Euros.
Likes on Facebook: 22.4 million.
Followers on Twitter: 29.6 million.
3. Lionel Messi
Salary/earnings: 49.5 million Euros
Sponsorships: 20 million Euros.
Likes on Facebook: 84.3 million.
Followers on Twitter: —
4. Neymar
Salary/earnings: 10 million Euros.
Sponsorships: 15 million Euros
Likes on Facebook: 56.4 million.
Followers on Twitter: 22.1 million.
5. Roger Federer
Salary/earnings: 7.9 million Euros
Sponsorships: 55 million Euros.
Likes on Facebook: 14.5 million.
Followers on Twitter: 4.7 million.
6. Kevin Durant
Salary/earnings: 18 million Euros.
Sponsorships: 32 million Euros.
Likes on Facebook: 10.1 million.
Followers on Twitter: 13.5 million.
7. Tiger Woods
Salary/earnings: 900,000 Euros
Sponsorships: 47 million Euros
Likes on Facebook: 3.1 million.
Followers on Twitter: 5.7 million.
8. Virat Kohli
Salary/earnings: 6 million Euros
Sponsorships: 16 million Euros
Likes on Facebook: 28.3 million.
Followers on Twitter: 10.7 million.
9. James Rodriguez
Salary/earnings: 9.5 million Euros
Sponsorships: 4 million Euros
Likes on Facebook: 29.7 million
Followers on Twitter: 9.6 million
10. Rafael Nadal
Salary/earnings: 4.5 million Euros
Sponsorships: 26 million Euros
Likes on Facebook: 14.6 million
Followers on Twitter: 9.3 million
Top 10 most famous footballers
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lionel Messi
3. Neymar
4. James Rodriguez
5. Gareth Bale
6. Wayne Rooney
7. Mesut Ozil
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
9. Luis Suarez
10. Sergio Aguero
ESPN’s 100 most famous athletes:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. LeBron James
3. Lionel Messi
4. Neymar
5. Roger Federer
6. Kevin Durant
7. Tiger Woods
8. Virat Kohli
9. James Rodriguez
10. Rafael Nadal
11. Kobe Bryant
12. Gareth Bale
13. Phil Mickelson
14. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
15. Usain Bolt
16. Novak Djokovic
17. Wayne Rooney
18. Maria Sharapova
19. Mesut Ozil
20. Rory McIlroy
21. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
22. Luis Suarez
23. Ronda Rousey
24. Sergio Aguero
25. Serena Williams
26. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
27. Radamel Falcao
28. Cesc Fabregas
29. Carmelo Anthony
30. Derrick Rose
31. Andy Murray
32. Cam Newton
33. Dwyane Wade
34. Stephen Curry
35. Manny Pacquiao
36. Dwight Howard
37. Conor McGregor
38. Peyton Manning
39. Chris Paul
40. Odell Beckham Jr.
41. Sania Mirza
42. Eden Hazard
43. Blake Griffin
44. Drew Brees
45. Damian Lillard
46. Michael Phelps
47. Kei Nishikori
48. Russell Westbrook
49. Russell Wilson
50. Jordan Spieth
51. Justin Rose
52. Tom Brady
53. Aaron Rodgers
54. James Harden
55. Alex Morgan
56. J.J. Watt
57. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
58. Jimmie Johnson
59. Lewis Hamilton
60. Jeremy Lin
61. Marshawn Lynch
62. Frank Lampard
63. Danica Patrick
64. Ryan Sheckler
65. Alex Ovechkin
66. Eli Manning
67. Kevin Love
68. Chris Bosh
69. Andrew Luck
70. Tony Romo
71. Bryce Harper
72. Rob Gronkowski
73. Mike Trout
74. Venus Williams
75. Fernando Alonso
76. Shaun White
77. Tony Stewart
78. David Ortiz
79. Amar’e Stoudemire
80. Wladimir Klitschko
81. Lydia Ko
82. Sidney Crosby
83. Billy Horschel
84. Canelo Alvarez
85. Robinson Cano
86. Yaya Toure
87. Deron Williams
88. Miguel Cabrera
89. Masahiro Tanaka
90. Tim Duncan
91. Rudy Gay
92. Evgeni Malkin
93. Albert Pujols
94. Kyle Busch
95. Andy Dalton
96. Tim Howard
97. Kimi Raikkonen
98. Ben Roethlisberger
99. Carson Palmer
100. Matt Kemp
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