Tennis players have dominated the world’s most marketable sports stars, according to the London School of Marketing, which looked at the stars’ overall earnings and how much payments for endorsements contributed towards the figures.
Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova was the highest ranked woman in 12th and the world number one and Wimbledon women’s singles champion Serena Williams was 20th.
The world golf number one Rory McIlroy was sixth on the power list and Britain’s top tennis player Andy Murray was placed 16th.
Roger Federer, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon men’s singles final, was ranked as the world’s most marketable sports star and was one of seven tennis players to feature. He was followed by golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Jacques de Cock, faculty member at London School of Marketing, said: “Despite having passed their peak physically, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are kings.”
He said the dominance of male sports stars could be explained by advertisers’ desire to attract to the “traditionally hard-to-reach 16- to 30-year-old male bracket. Sport is the obvious way to do this due to the ‘hero’ status of many sportsmen”.
The list in full:
1. Roger Federer – Tennis
2. Tiger Woods – Golf
3. Phil Mickelson – Golf
4. LeBron James – Basketball
5. Kevin Durant – Basketball
6. Rory McIlroy – Golf
7. Novak Djokovic – Tennis
8. Rafael Nadal – Tennis
9. Mahendra Singh Dhoni – Cricket
10. Cristiano Ronaldo – Football
11. Kobe Bryant – Basketball
12. Maria Sharapova – Tennis
13. Lionel Messi – Football
14. Usain Bolt – Track
15. Neymar – Football
16. Andy Murray – Tennis
17. Kei Nishikori – Tennis
18. Derrick Rose – Basketball
19. Floyd Mayweather – Boxing
20. Serena Williams – Tennis
