On October 27, the American sports website Sportico released the 2022 global female athlete income ranking, Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka ranked first with $53.2 million in income, and Gu Ailing ranked fourth with $23.1 million.
It is worth noting that among the top 15 players in the list, there are 8 tennis players, and the top three players in the income list are dominated by tennis players: Naomi Osaka, Serena and Raducanu.
The top 15 female athletes, with a combined income of approximately $214 million, come from nine countries and play five sports: tennis, skiing, gymnastics, golf and football.
The above income refers to the competition prize money (salary) and business endorsement (before tax and agency fees) between May 2021 and May 2022. Among them, commercial endorsement income includes athletes' advertising, souvenirs, appearance fees and other income, excluding athletes' investment income.
Top-earning Naomi Osaka, currently ranked No. 43 in the world, is 14-9 this year, with a best result being a runner-up finish at the WTA 1000 Miami.
Naomi Osaka earned $1.2 million in prize money from May last year to May this year, while commercial endorsements earned a whopping $52 million, largely thanks to the large number of endorsement contracts she signed in previous years.
In an email to Sportico, Naomi Osaka said: "The transformation is the natural next step in my journey as an athlete and businesswoman, and I will continue to do things my own way." After winning four Grand Slam titles and reaching the top of the world No. 1, Naomi Osaka has suffered from depression in recent years, and her grades and world rankings have plummeted, but she has continued to succeed in the business world.
This year, Naomi Osaka announced that she had left her previous agency and set up her own, and the first player she signed was Kyrgios. Kyrgios has had a very good year with the men's doubles title at the Australian Open and the runner-up at Wimbledon at the beginning of the year.
Tennis legend Serena came in second with $35.3 million, with $35 million in commercial endorsement revenue and just $300,000 in tournament prize money. Serena has only played five matches this year, she previously published a lengthy article in Vogue this year's US Open hinting at retirement, and although she has always claimed to have never personally said that she is retiring and is open to returning to the court next year, it is widely believed that her third round loss to Tomjanovich at this year's US Open may be the last match of her career.
According to the plan revealed by Serena, her next step will be to have a second child and focus on the business field. Her investment firm, Serena Ventures, has acquired more than 60 companies, and she also owns a stake in Angeles City FC and a small stake in the Miami Dolphins.
Raducanu, who are of Chinese descent, and Gu Ailing ranked third and fourth on the list, with the former earning $26.2 million ($3.2 million in bonus income and $23 million in endorsement income) and the latter earning $23.1 million (including $100,000 in bonus income and $23 million in endorsement income).
Raducanu's prize money is mainly from last year's US Open championship prize, and she signed a lot of huge endorsements after winning her first Grand Slam title, which is a big reason for her skyrocketing income. Raducanu's results and prize money have plummeted this year, and the current world ranking has fallen to 76th.
The 19-year-old Gu Ailing enjoyed great success at the Beijing Winter Olympics, winning two gold medals in the women's big air freestyle skiing and women's halfpipe in freestyle skiing, as well as a silver medal in freestyle slopestyle.
The prize money in skiing is much lower than that of tennis, and Gu Ailing's income mainly comes from commercial endorsements, and the endorsement brands she currently signs with include Red Bull, Louis Vuitton, Victoria's Secret, IWC, Anta, Bank of China, Cadillac and so on.
American tennis rising star Gauff, 18, has been prominent lately, placing eighth with $7.7 million, significantly behind Raducanu. However, Gauff is favored by many industry insiders and advertisers, she won the French Open runner-up this year and reached the WTA year-end finals for the first time, becoming the youngest finals player since Sharapova in 2005, and she believes her future results and income will continue to rise.
Meanwhile, Swiatek, currently ranked WTA world No. 1, is only seventh in earnings, a stark contrast to her on-court performances. This year, for example, Swiatek has a whopping $9.4 million, the highest prize money of any male or female player in tennis, and she has twice as much prize money as the world's second babbar Jabbar.
Looking at the above list, we find that female tennis players have an absolute predominance among all female athletes, which proves that tennis is probably the best sport for men and women with equal income, and also shows that women's tennis has the widest influence and commercial value of all women's sports. (Source: Tennis House Author: Cirrus Yunshu)
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