Golfers Dominate 2016 Rich List

Phil Mickelson was the golfer to earn the most from endorsements in 2016 with £41m whilst Rory McIlroy was the highest earning Brit of any sport

Golfers Dominate 2016 Rich List

Four golfers have made it into the world’s nine richest athletes of 2016.

Researchers at London School of Marketing compiled the Sports Marketing Power List after taking into account just the sponsorship deals of global athletes last year.

17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer was top of list with almost £50m in off court earnings last year.

Five-time major champion Phil Mickelson was golf's highest earner in third place, taking home £41m in 2016 from deals with Callaway, Amgen, Barclays, Exxon, KPMG and Rolex.

Despite playing just four rounds of competitive golf in 2016, Tiger Woods was the world's fourth most valuable sportsman in 2016, pocketing £36.9m from his sponsorships from Nike, Rolex, Upper Deck and Hero Motocorp.

Jacques De Cock, Faculty Member at London School of Marketing, said: "Tiger woods is (or was) special because he was part of the foundation of Nike Golf and a central part of it. His endorsements are more about him than his performance on the gold course.

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"Tiger Woods also describes himself as Cablinasian in honour of his multi racial origin giving him a global appeal unique in a white dominated sport. His marketing appeal will survive his actual sporting achievements which are phenomenal in any case."

Rory McIlroy is the only British entry in the top ten with the researchers putting his sponsorship earnings at just under £29m for the year – making him the sixth-highest paid athlete in the world.

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Jordan Spieth was in ninth, taking home £26.2m thanks to deals with Netjets, Titleist, AT&T, Coke, Rolex and Under Armour.

According to the research conducted by London School of Marketing, golf is the third-highest sport dependent on endorsements with 75% of earnings coming from sponsors.

Cricket was top with 81% of earnings coming from sponsors, whilst tennis was second with 78%.

Jacques de Cock commented: “The top 100 athletes earned a total of £2.6bn last year.

“The sponsorship revenues are driven upwards mainly by the competition of major clothing brands.

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“The main ones are Nike with 51 stars under contract, Adidas with 12 and Under Armour with 11. The other brands such as Reebok, Puma and New Balance have a handful each.

“Male athletes still dominate perhaps because they offer advantages to marketers that want to tap into the traditionally hard to reach male consumer market.

“Fans tend to buy sports clothing and equipment based on what the key sportsman wear, which explains why endorsements are such a major part of cricket, tennis and golf.