The highest paid athlete in the world gets an annual income of $93 million.
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That athlete is soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, and $58 million of that figure is his salary.
The remaining $35 million comes from endorsements, according to Forbes, which in June published a list of the top 25 paid athletes in the world for 2017.
The “measliest” paid on the list is UFC champ Conor McGregor, who makes just $34 million a year.
Mind you, he’s rumoured to be getting a tidy little sum of $75 million, for his upcoming fight with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather at the end of the month.
These are staggering dollar figures. Incomprehensible to someone who still gets excited when they find a $2 coin in the street.
And the more I start to think about it, the angrier I get.
I’m a sports fan – I truly am.
I look forward to Friday nights on the couch in front of the footy.
I’ve cleared my schedule to watch the aforementioned McGregor-Mayweather clash.
As I write this piece, I’m squinting to watch AFL on a tiny iPhone screen.
But I just can’t abide those paychecks.
Not when we have so many people worldwide who are beyond struggling.
Beyond that, when we have workers who spread themselves thin across several jobs, scraping up a pittance in each.
When nurses, doctors, teachers, emergency services workers are making a fraction of these superstar athletes, and we’re taking away penalty rates from other workers.
The ridiculousness of the situation we’ve created for ourselves is undeniable, when you slot it all into perspective.
Will it ever change?
Probably not when there are so many dollars involved.