There is so much money in sport, it’s always fascinating to learn which athletes are the best-paid across the globe. In 2026, Cristiano Ronaldo is understood to make the most money of any sportsperson, with the Al-Nassr striker picking up $260m annually.

Boxer Canelo Alvarez ranks second on that list, showing that it’s not just footballers who earn the big bucks. At the recent Winter Olympics, freestyle skier Eileen Gu was the best-paid athlete, although she makes most of her money through endorsements, with only a small fraction of it coming via her sport.

Of course, to reach the top of their game, all athletes must work incredibly hard. That said, when it comes to time actually spent competing, things can vary quite a lot. For instance, Usain Bolt sealed his sporting legacy in 9.58 seconds, while it takes hours for any marathon runner to win their race.

With that in mind, the people at Foresight Sports have attempted to work out which athletes get paid the most per hour they spend competing in their sport. The research examined 36 professional sports to calculate how much athletes earn for each hour they spend in active competition.

The study collected average annual salaries across different sports and leagues, then measured how many competitive events athletes participate in during a typical season. The report also tracked actual playing time per event, excluding warm-ups, timeouts, and breaks between plays. The study then divided annual salaries by total competition hours to show what athletes make per hour.

Since Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in 2023, the Saudi Pro League has aimed to establish itself as one of the best footballing competitions in the world. It’s actually still not considered among the top 30, but it certainly is one of the best-paid.

Ranking 10th on this list, players make an average annual salary of $3,200,000 – although the biggest earners like Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Saido Mane make far more than that. All in all, though, for every hour a Saudi Pro League star takes to the pitch, they can make on average a cool $112,280.70.

While the Premier League is a long way ahead of the Saudi Pro League when it comes to pure footballing quality, it’s only just a little ahead when it comes to the average wage. Erling Haaland’s weekly wage at Manchester City is the highest, as he makes £525,000, which would only see him rank sixth in Saudi.

However, the average annual salary is much higher in England, at $4,100,000. As a result, players can make a total of $113,573.41 for every 60 minutes of action they see in the English top-flight. According to the research, these two leagues are the highest-paying in football across the globe.

8

Snowboarding

It might surprise some to see that Snowboarding beats football on this list, but it’s important to remember the figures are worked out on time spent actually in action. On average, there are only 12 snowboarding events in a season, and with races over pretty fast, that means athletes are competing for just under an hour across the entire FIS/X Games.

As such, while the annual average is $100,000, snowboarders are said to make $125,000.00 per hour of play time. American snowboarder Chloe Kim is one of the best-paid athletes in the sport, making $4 million annually.

7

Basketball

The NBA is by far the most popular basketball competition in the world, and it’s no secret that the star athletes get very well-paid. With an average annual salary of $11,910,000, this is actually the second-highest figure in the top 20. However, as each game consists of four quarters of 10 minutes each, basketball falls down the rankings when salaries are divided by earnings per hour of play-time.

Indeed, with 65.6 hours spent in action across an entire NBA campaign, players end up making a total of $181,554.88 every hour. Not a bad figure, by any means. According to reports, Stephen Curry will make a whopping $62,587,158 while playing for the Golden State Warriors in 2026/27. No other basketball star will make more.

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6

Track & Field

Much like snowboarding, the average track and field star only makes $100,000. But as they spend even less time in action, just 0.4 on average per season, they sit very high up on this list. Indeed, if they were to spend an hour competing, they could make as much as $250,000.

American track and field star Noah Lyles, who competes in the 60 meters, 100 meters and 200 meters events​​​​​​, is one of the best-known sprinters in the world. In 2026, reports claim that his net worth could be as much as $7 million.

5

Formula 1

Formula 1 is one of the most popular sports in the world, and with drivers earning an average annual salary of $10,000,000, there’s an incredible amount of money pumped into events each year. The competition takes far longer than a 100m dash, with races lasting around 90 minutes each.

It’s understood that Max Verstappen makes more money than anyone else in the sport, with the Dutchman on a salary of $76,000,000 in 2026. It’s no surprise that Lewis Hamilton isn’t far behind him, making $70,500,000 every year at Ferrari​​​​​​. Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc all make up the top five.

4

MotoGP

Next up is another motorsport, with MotoGP making the top three as they are tied with MMA / UFC, with their athletes making a total of $333,333.33 for every hour spent competing. Riders participate in 20 races per season, with each race running about 45 minutes. That comes to 15 hours of competition time, which brings down the hourly cost of the average $5,000,000 salary.

As of 2025, Frenchman Fabio Quartararo has the biggest MotoGP salary, securing the top spot with his $13m-per-year deal at Yamaha​​​​​​. After that, Marc Marquez makes $9.7m with Ducati, while Francesco Bagnaia (also Ducati) is on $7.6m.

3

MMA / UFC

UFC fighters make far less than their MotoGP counterparts, with an average salary of just $250,000. However, as professional MMA fighters compete in an avergae of 3 bouts per, with each match lasting 15 minutes for non-title fights, they spend less than an an hour in the cage annually.

As such, they make $333,333.33 for every hour they spend competing, which is the same as those MotoGP drivers. The likes of Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Jon Jones have all made millions through the incredibly popular sport.

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Anyone who has ever tuned in to the Super Bowl will be under no illusions as to just how grand and showy American Football can be as a spectacle. The NFL is a wonderfully entertaining competition that costs a mind-blowing amount of money to run.

The average salary is $2,700,000, but with the stop-start nature of the sport, the ball is only in play for about 18 minutes per game (17, in a typical season). That means players accumulate just 5 hours of actual game action across an entire season, which helps boost the hourly pay rate up to a hefty $529,411.76.

1

Boxing (Elite Level)

Coming in at number one, as the best-paid sport per hour of competitive action, is boxing. Because top-tier fighters step into the ring just twice yearly, with each bout lasting around 36 minutes of actual fighting across 12 rounds, as much as $16,666,666.67 can be made every sixty minutes.

A spokesperson from Foresight Sports commented on the study: “People think NBA players have it easy because they make millions, but they’re actually working more hours than most athletes. Basketball players compete 66 hours per season compared to boxers who fight for just over an hour. When you account for practice, travel, and physical recovery, team sport athletes put in thousands of hours yearly. Individual sports like boxing can charge more per event because scarcity drives demand. You can’t watch your favourite boxer every week like you can watch LeBron.”