Forbes female athletes are on the earnings list, and tennis is the most expensive in the top three

Reporter | Zhao Yue

On January 17, 2022, Beijing time, the Australian Open kicked off at Melbourne Park. Women's singles defending champion Japanese player Naomi Osaka made a brilliant debut, taking only 68 minutes to defeat their opponents 6-3 in two and win the first game of the defending trip.

Forbes recently announced the 2021 female athlete income list, and Naomi Osaka ranked first with a total income of $57.3 million. Among them, her off-field income is as high as $55 million, breaking the record for female athletes' income.

Osaka Naomi's pre-tax gains come almost entirely from endorsements. She holds the endorsement of louis vuitton, Swiss watch brand TAG HEUER and other top brands, and in recent months has also acquired equity interests in two companies to launch her own line of skin care products.

Tennis players took the top three spots in the list, with the Williams sisters in second and third place.

Serena Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, came in second with $45.9 million and $45 million in off-field revenue.

Her sister Dawei came third with $11.3 million and earned just $11 million off-market.

Although the Williams sisters have a tepid record on the field, their fame has brought them a large number of partners and huge profits. The two are also executive producers of the film "King Richard," and Serena Williams has invested in more than 60 startups.

However, this time at the Australian Open, the Williams sisters gave up participating. It was the first time since 1997 that neither had appeared in a match in Melbourne.

It is foreseeable that after the Australian Open, the commercial value and gold absorption ability of Osaka Naomi will continue to widen the gap with the Williams sisters.

It is estimated that in 2021, the world's ten highest-paid female athletes made a total of $167 million before taxes, a 23% increase over 2020 and a 16% increase from the record of $143.3 billion set in 2013.

However, the overall income of female athletes is not optimistic, and this part of the growth share comes almost entirely from Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams. In the global overall list of the highest incomes of male and female athletes, no other female athletes are even on the list.

In addition, 5 of the top ten are tennis players, but this is the lowest number in the past decade. Since 1990, tennis players have been at the top of Forbes' list of women's richest people. In 2021, there will be a significant increase in the number of finalists in other projects.

Gymnast Simone Biles and basketball player Candace Pa were among the highest-paid female athletes for the first time for $10.1 million and $5.7 million, respectively.

Forbes pointed out that the women's sports world is relatively lacking in terms of salary, facility treatment and media attention. But overall, women's sports events are developing in a good direction, the number of sponsors and the amount of sponsorship are increasing, TV ratings are gradually rising, and online communication has also provided new channels of attention.