Top 10 Most Marketable Athletes In The World

September 8, 2021 By Sourav

Our minds immediately turn to speed, strength, physiques, and performance when we think about athletes. That is what makes them the most marketable athletes in the world. Sports is all about having a particular skill delivering with diligent practice and massive patience.

A sportsperson has a high reputation in the modern world. Which pushes them to win on the field. The more an athlete wins, the more marketable they become. Winning on the field is not just end there, but it's the beginning of their popularity and recognition.

Having a huge fan following attracts brands that pay them a hefty amount of money to sponsor their products. Besides dexterity, it is simpler for any athlete to gain high-paying brands and benefit from them if they have good looks. A win-win situation for both athletes and brands.

Most Marketable Athletes | 2021 Ranking

Don’t Miss

• Most Marketable Athletes | 2021 Infographics
• FAQs Regarding Most Marketable Athletes In 2021

We have recently ranked the highest-paid athletes of this year. Besides, we have also published the latest ranking of the most-followed athletes on social media. And now, it’s time to talk about the most marketable athletes in the world right now. So, here they are!

10. Mohamed Salah | Football

Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly is an Egyptian professional footballer. He plays as a forward for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Egypt national team. Widely known as the youngest player, Salah, is the best footballer in Egypt.

Mohamed has a huge fan following on social media and is currently one of the most popular footballers in the world. He now has close to 15 million followers on Twitter and around 44 million followers on Instagram. Needless to say, these impressive followings attract him more sponsorship deals.

Currently, Salah has a sponsorship deal with sportswear and equipment supplier Adidas: he wears Adidas X18 football boots. He is considered one of the best players in the world, as he is known for his finishing, dribbling, and speed.

The 28 years old Salah makes a huge amount of money through advertising and sponsoring. By having a net worth of $90 million he got 10th spot in our top 10 most marketable athletes in the world.

9. Paulo Dybala | Football

An Argentine professional footballer Paulo Dybala plays as a forward for Serie A club Juventus and the Argentina national team. He began his career as a professional footballer in 2011 in the Argentine Second division.

Known for his tick signature when he scores a goal, has a massive fan following around the globe, as he is close to 44 million followers on Instagram. Huge followers on social media mean more and more endorsement deals to make money and increase marketability.

Paulo has won multiple awards including Serie A Team of the Year, Serie A Most Valuable Player, and Coppa Italia top goalscorer. Besides, he is now widely considered as one of the most handsome footballers in the world.

His achievements and his massive fan following including his net worth make him get the 9th spot out of the top 10 most marketable athletes in the world.

8. Khabib Nurmagomedov | MMA

Khabib Abdulmanapovich is a retired professional mixed martial artist from Russia. He became the longest-reigning UFC lightweight champion during his reign from April 2018 to March 2021.

A native of the Russian republic of Dagestan, Khabib is the first Muslim to win a UFC championship. He is not only one of the greatest Muslim athletes of all time but is also one of the undefeated MMA fighters the world has ever seen.

By August 2021, he had over 30 million Instagram followers, making him the most followed Russian on the social media platform. He earns a massive amount of money from being a brand ambassador of a payment service called SalamPay.

Apart from that, he is sponsored by big companies like Gorilla, Energy, and Reebok. Having a huge net worth of $40 million, huge fan followings, and sponsorships deals, make him the 8th most marketable athlete in the world.

7. Sidney Crosby | Ice Hockey

Sidney Crosby is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League. He is widely known as the richest ice hockey player in the world.

Sidney has a huge reputation across the globe, because of his hard work and dedication. Besides, he has also witnessed some of the most serious money in NHL.

Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" has won multiple awards including the Hart Memorial Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, and Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. Besides having a net worth of $55 Million, he has a huge fan following on social media to attract sponsorships deals.

Widely known as the Canadian ice hockey player, he is endorsing Adidas, Gatorade, and Tim Hortons and enhancing his marketability. His fan following, net worth, and huge reputation made him get 7th position out of the top 10 most marketable athletes in the world.

6. Rohit Sharma | Cricket

Rohit Gurunath Sharma is an Indian cricketer and the Vice-Captain of team India in limited-over cricket. He plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket and captains Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

He is widely known for the world record for the highest individual score by a batsman playing in a one-day international match. Besides, he is now regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in cricket history.

Rohit has massive respect and reputation all across India. Besides his reputation, he has achieved nearly 23 million followers on Instagram. And that is really helpful for his popularity and gaining sponsorship deals to increase his net worth.

Having a net worth of $25 Million, Rohit earned the 6th spot in our top 10 most marketable athletes in the world.

5. Neymar Jr | Football

A Brazilian professional footballer, Neymar Jr, plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club PSG and the Brazil national team. He made his professional debut on 7^th March 2009, despite being only 17 years old.

Neymar is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world. Besides, he is also one of the most-followed footballers on Instagram right now.

Besides his dexterity on the pitch, he has colorful life behind the profession. As he has many sponsorships deals that are paying him more than he gets from his salaries in which Nike, Puma, and Adidas are included.

Neymar got popularity and fans from all across the football fans by winning multiple awards in which UEFA Champions League, Copa del Rey, and Copa Libertadores are involved. By having a net worth of $95 million and a huge fanbase of 160 million followers on Instagram, he got the 5th spot out of the top 10 most marketable athletes in the world.

Bonus: Unknown Facts About Neymar Jr

4. Bianca Andreescu | Tennis (WTA)

Bianca Vanessa Andreescu is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 in the world and is the highest-ranked Canadian in the history of the Women's Tennis Association.

Widely known as the best tennis player in the world, she has won multiple awards including Wimbledon, two-times Australian Open, and French Open in 2019. Besides, she is also dubbed as one of the most beautiful female tennis players in the world right now.

Besides her awards, Bianca has a massive fan following on her social media accounts. She now has close 679k followers on Instagram and more than a million on other plate forms like Facebook and Twitter.

Besides having a massive fan following, her marketability made her earn a hefty amount of money from sponsorships brands. Bianca has high-paying brands like Nike, BMW, and tennis equipment maker, Head. After her all accomplishments, she got the 4th spot out of the top 10 most marketable athletes in the world.

3. Virat Kohli | Cricket

Here we go, people! The handsome hunk Virat Kohli is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the India national team. A right-handed top-order batsman. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of the present era. He is also widely known as one of the greatest cricketers of all time.

Virat has won multiple awards in which Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade and the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Decade are involved. He is probably the only Indian player who has craze among fans, more than other celebrities.

The most valuable and marketable player of India has a fanatical fan following on social media like he has 150 million followers on Instagram. And that plays a really important role to attract huge paying sponsorships deals.

Having a net worth of $60 million and huge sponsorships deals with Great Learning, iQOO, Iqoo Smartphones, Lafarge, Max Life Insurance, and Vizecare make him the 3rd most marketable athlete out of 10.

Bonus: HD Wallpapers of Virat Kohli for PC & Smartphones

2. Lionel Messi | Football

Lionel Andres Messi, also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer. He plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club PSG and captains the Argentina national team. Leo is widely known as the greatest footballer of all time.

He has won amazing titles in his all career in which FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Supercup, and La Liga titles are involved. Besides his talent, he is widely regarded as the humblest and kind person.

He is also the highest goalscorer in La Liga. His fan following on social media is increasing day by day which makes him the 2nd most marketable athlete on the globe.

By having a lifetime contract with Adidas and making deals with other brands like Gatorade and Pepsi, he became the richest Footballer with a net worth of $600 million.

Bonus: Why Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Ronaldo Messi?

1. Cristiano Ronaldo | Football

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is a Portuguese professional footballer. He plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester United and captains the Portugal national team.

Known as CR7, he has achieved prestigious individual honors including FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and Ballon d'Or. Besides, almost all the football pundits consider him as the best football forward right now.

Widely regarded as the greatest Portuguese footballer, Ronaldo is the 1st footballer in history to have such a massive crazy fan following on social media. He makes a huge amount of money from sponsorship deals like Nike, Clear, and Herbalife.

CR7 are always among the brands that earn the most value from his social networks. Nike, which pays Ronaldo an estimated $20 million a year, is the biggest benefactor annually. By having a net worth of $1 billion, he is on the 1st spot out of the top 10 most marketable athletes in the world.

Bonus: HD Wallpapers of Cristiano Ronaldo

Conclusion

That's it, folks! We've gone through deep research to bring out the best marketable athletes in the world. And we have ranked them on the basis of their popularity and their marketability. We hope you liked our rankings and reading the article.

If you have any questions regarding our rankings or if you think we missed some other player, please let us know in the comment box below. Even you can send us an Email which will be highly appreciated.

Most Marketable Athletes | 2021 Infographics

FAQs Regarding Most Marketable Athletes In 2021

Q. Who are the most marketable athletes?

According to the recent statistics, Cristiano Ronaldo a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester United and captains the Portugal national team is the most marketable athlete.

Q. What traits make an athlete highly marketable?

There are multiple factors that make an athlete highly marketable. In which frequency of performance, demographics of fans in their sport, nature of the Sport, and strong social media presence matters. And having a huge fan following with high recognition involved.

Q. How do athletes become marketable?

Among the many ways to generate cash, there are commercials, equipment, and apparel sales, entertainment enterprises, and many other opportunities. All of the athletes on our list are marketable in their own way. But there is one thing they have in common, which is having massive success and worldwide fame.

Q. What sport pays the most in 2021?

It is not surprising that basketball is the world's highest-paid sport. As well as earning millions per year in salary, the NBA's best basketball players earn a huge amount of money from their various endorsements and sponsorships deals.