JCM: Top 100 World’s Highest Paid Athletes and the sports that bring them to stardom

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Top 100 World’s Highest Paid Athletes and the sports that bring them to stardom

56. Justin Verlander

Takings/Payouts: $22.7 million

Advertisements: $750,000

Total earnings: $23.4 million

Justin Brooks Verlander, an American professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball was named the American League Rookie of the Year in year 2006.

He signed a deal in 2013 that shells out $180 million over seven years and was the biggest deal ever for a pitcher at the time. The contract includes a $22 million vesting option in the eighth year that would push the total amount of the contract to $202 million. His salary increased from $20 million in 2014 to $28 million this year. His biggest endorsements include Under Armour, Rawlings and Majestic.

57. Andy Dalton

Takings/Payouts: $22.3 million

Advertisements: $1 million

Total earnings: $23.3 million

Andrew Gregory Dalton, an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League, who played college football at Texas Christian University

The Bengals quarterback inked a 6-year, $96 million deal in 2014 that could be worth as much as $115 million with team-based incentives. The contract included a $12 million signing bonus and $17 million guaranteed. The two-time Pro Bowler has led the Bengals to the playoffs four successive seasons, although he has yet to triumph a game in the postseason.

58. Masahiro Tanaka

Takings/Payouts: $22 million

Advertisements: $1 million

Total earnings: $23 million

Masahiro Tanaka is a Japanese professional baseball starting pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. He played for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League from 2007 through 2013.

The New York Yankees enticed Tanaka to the U.S. from Japan in 2014 with a 7-year contract worth $155 million. Tanaka received a no-trade clause and can finish the deal after 2017. He was chosen to the MLB All-Star game last season in his rookie year after six appearances in the All-Star game of the Nippon Professional Baseball league.

58. Mark Teixeira

Takings/Payouts: $22.5 million

Advertisements: $500,000

Total earnings: $23 million

Mark Charles Teixeira, an American Major League Baseball first baseman for the New York Yankees who before playing in the MLB played college baseball at Georgia Tech, where he won the Dick in 2001 .

The New York Yankees first baseman is back to striking home runs after missing all but 15 games of the 2013 season with a wrist injury and still enduring the effects of surgery last year. He is indebted $22.5 million in the final year of his Yankees' contract in 2016. The five-time Gold Glove Award winner produces $500,000 yearly off the field from Steiner Sports, Nike, Rawlings, among others.

60. Felix Hernandez

Takings/Payouts: $22.7 million

Advertisements: $200,000

Total earnings: $22.9 million

Felix Abraham Hernandez Garcia, nicknamed "King Felix", is a Venezuelan professional baseball starting pitcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball, who made his MLB debut in 2005

The Mariners signed him to a 7-year, $175 million deal extension in 2013. The contract hits the highest point with a salary of $27 million in 2019. He has finished in the top four of the AL Cy Young Award voting four of the past seven years, taking home the award in 2011. He finished second in the 2014 Cy Young voting. A top finished would have made a profit of a $200,000 bonus.

61. Jimmie Johnson

Takings/Payouts: $16.2 million

Advertisements: $6.5 million

Total earnings: $22.7 million

Jimmie Kenneth Johnson, an American professional stock car racing driver and a six-time champion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, currently drives the No. 48 Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Johnson is in the final year of his contract with Hendrick Motorsports, but is working on an extension through 2017 to match the term of his car sponsor Lowe's. Johnson has chosen a few new endorsement contracts after his sixth Sprint Cup title in 2013. The Gap, Mission and Seiko signed endorsement contracts with Johnson over the last 12 months, joining Gatorade, Chevy among others in his endorsements line up.

61. Cole Hamels

Takings/Payouts: $22.5 million

Advertisements: $200,000

Total earnings: $22.7 million

Colbert Michael "Cole" Hamels, an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball who played in MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2006 to 2015.

The Philadelphia Phillies signed Hamels in 2012 to a 6-year $144 million contract, the second-biggest contract ever taken by a pitcher at the time. The contract pays $22.5 million yearly between 2014 and 2019. He went on to continue the 2012 season with a career high in wins (17) and strikeouts (216). His name has been a constant in trade speculation with the Phillies in rebuilding mode.

63. Wladimir Klitschko

Takings/Payouts: $19 million

Advertisements: $3.5 million

Total earnings: $22.5 million

Wladimir Klitschko is a Ukrainian professional boxer and the reigning Heavyweight World Champion, holding the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring heavyweight titles.

He has been the world's most dominant heavyweight since 2005, reeling off 20 straight title bout wins, a popular pitchman in Europe and has a profitable contract with RTL television station in Germany to broadcast his fights. He won a unanimous decision against Bryant Jennings in April at Madison Square Garden, which was his first time fighting in the United States since 2008.