In the turbulent economic times of today with few professions being safe from financial challenge, the top American athletes continue to find guaranteed financial success.

While the economy dips, the average salary of the top 50 highest-earning American athletes shows an increase of 11 percent from the 2009 average with an unprecedented $26.2 million.  Not only guaranteed of the salary agreed to in the terms of their contracts, today’s athletes are raking it in for various endorsements deals.

Golf actually topped the list with the top two American athletes in terms of overall earnings are golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.  Despite the recent troubles Tiger Woods has faced, as well as the loss of several endorsements, he still leads the way as the highest paid American athlete at over $90 million dollars.  Woods also remains the leader in endorsements at $70 million.

At nearly $30 million behind fellow golfer Tiger Woods sits Phil Mickelson at a total of over $61 million in earnings.  Mickleson is second in endorsements as well at $52 million.  Woods and Mickleson represent the only two members of the PGA on the list.

Surprisingly, the NHL is not represented on the list and the only boxer listed is Floyd Mayweather coming in third at just over $60 million.  Mayweather was not listed last year but the earnings from two successful fights propelled him near the top.

While racing is represented on the list, it is only represented by NASCAR with three competitors receiving mention.  Of those, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was highest at 16th.  Each of the NASCAR drivers were alike in that the endorsements they received outweighed their salary and winnings by millions.  Coincidentally, all three are currently under contract to Hendrick Motorsports with the other two NASCAR representatives, in order of earnings, being Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

The NBA had the most athletes on the list at 16.  Not surprisingly, the league leader in terms of earnings was LeBron James at 4th.  Of the nearly $46 million James received in earnings, $30 million came as endorsements.  James’ new teammate Dwyane Wade landed 10th on the list at nearly $28 million in earnings.  The majority of Wade’s earnings came from his salary and winnings.  The other new resident of South Beach, Chris Bosh, is not currently on the list.

The NFL was the second most represented league with a total of 15 representatives.  Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning led the way at 9th.  Of the nearly $31 million earned by Manning the split between salary and winnings along with endorsements was almost even.

The second representative of the NFL was Matthew Stafford at 11th.  Nearly all of the almost $28 million Stafford earned came from his record breaking contract following the 2009 NFL Draft.  Stafford received less than $1 million in endorsements.

MLB players occupied 13 spots on the list.  Of these, five were members of the New York Yankees with the top MLB representative Alex Rodriguez coming in at 5th with $37 million as he looks to hit his 600th career home run in the near future.

The Boston Red Sox represented three spots on the list while the Toronto Blue Jays held one which may mean, in terms of salary, the ultra-competitive AL East appears to be the place a free agent looking for a big payday might wish to land.  Between New York, Boston and Toronto, the division held nine of the MLB’s thirteen representatives.

The MLB also held the final spot on the list.  New York Yankees starting pitcher A.J. Burnett was listed as 50th at a total of just under $17 million.  Nearly all of Burnett’s earnings were due to his salary.

The list appears certain to change.  For instance, popular Yankee Derek Jeter is currently 8th on the list but may be destined to climb higher as his contract ends and negotiations are likely to guarantee a pay increase.  Though not currently on the list, one might estimate that the recent deals of Joe Mauer and the soon to be on-the-market Prince Fielder will be propelled into the top 50.

The average of $26.2 million among the top 50 seems like an amount that is meant to be overshadowed with these and many new deals looming.  As sports in the major four professional organizations seems to be more competitive than ever with late season pushes into the playoffs and ratings at all time highs one can safely assume that these deals are only likely to continue as markets fight to place a winning product onto their fields.

Used with permission of the author.

Cade Caldwell is an Atlanta-based sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax.

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