Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten Messi once again as he has been announced by Forbes as the worlds highest earning athlete, with Lionel Messi in second place.
The Real Madrid starhas done incredibly well financially off the pitch as he raked in a total of approximately £70.5m, where as Messi earned a total of £65.2m, which is still a huge amount of money. A good chunk of Ronaldo's earnings came from sponsorship deals - approx£26.5m.
The Portuguese star had an amazing year in 2016 when his national side won their first ever major trophy when they won the European Championship in the summer beating hosts France 1-0. He also won the Champions League yet again with his club side Real Madrid. Both of these really boosting sponsorship deals, contributing to the amount of money that he earned.
It's a big jump for football as both Ronaldo and Messi have gone ahead of boxing legends Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in the list, who were first and second respectively in 2015. However Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the only boxer on the list now with an earning of £35.2m, which is still extremely impressive considering he has retired from the sport.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United are all in the top five most valuable sports teams smashing the £2.5 billion mark. However none of them are at the top of the list with American Football team Dallas Cowboys taking the top spot.
Top 20 Forbes Highest Earning Athletes
1. Cristiano Ronaldo, £70.5m
2. Lionel Messi, £65.2m
3. LeBron James, £61.8m
4. Roger Federer, £54.3m
5. Kevin Durant, £45m
6. Novak Djokovic, £44.7m
7. Cam Newton, £42.5m
8. Phil Mickelson, £42.4m
9. Jordan Spieth, £42.3m
10. Kobe Bryant, £40m
11. Lewis Hamilton, £36.8m
12. Tiger Woods, £36.3m
13. Eli Manning, £36m
14. Joe Flacco, £35.6m
15. Tom Brady, £35.3m
16. Floyd Mayweather, £35.2m
17. Rory McIlroy, £34.1m
18. Russell Wilson, £33.5m
19. Sebastian Vettel, £32.8m
20. Philip Rivers, £30.4m