Serena Williams & Naomi Osaka are only women in top-100 highest-paid athletes

Sports business website Sportico has published a list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes in the world and it makes grim reading for female athletes. 

This year has already seen a number of memorable events in the world of women’s sport. Katie Taylor fought Amanda Serrano in front of a packed-out Madison Square Garden. Barcelona broke the all-time women’s football attendance record on two occasions and Molly McCann produced a show-stopping performance at UFC London.

Despite the success of female athletes of late, Sportico’s findings highlight that the earnings gap between male and female sports stars continues to be staggering. 

Lebron James tops the list, with overall earnings of $126.9 million (£103.2m), while just two women, tennis players Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, feature in the top 100. 

Though she took an extended break from tennis in 2021, Osaka is ranked 20th and has allegedly earnt $53.2m (£43m) across the past year. The 24-year-old has equity in more than a dozen brands and has her own skincare range, alongside endorsement deals with Nissan, Tag Heuer and Louis Vuitton. 

Williams, who is 52nd on the list, has long-standing partnerships with Pepsi, Gatorade and Aston Martin. The 23-time Grand Slam champion also has her own venture capital firm called Serena Ventures. 

Both tennis stars are earning millions. However, the same cannot be said for other female sportspeople. 

GiveMeSport Women looks at why that’s the case and what can be done to improve the situation. 

The number of women in the top 100 earners is actually the same as last year, and it was Osaka and Williams who featured then as well. In 2020, it was just Serena who made the list. 

Interestingly, when comparing the sports that make up the