The world of professional sports does not live in a single “faster, higher, stronger”. There is another dimension in it that causes ordinary mortals to take an envious sigh - money.
Forbes magazine calculated how much money Russian athletes have earned over the past 10 years, and what proportion of them are actually the contracts, how many prizes are received for the winnings, and how much media activity related to sports is only indirect.
The result was the ranking of the highest paid Russian athletes of the decade, which we present to your attention.
10. Andrey Arshavin
Earned for 10 years: 43.3 million dollars.
The top 10 highest-paid Russian athletes over the past 10 years, according to Forbes, opens with footballer Andrei Arshavin. Now he hasn’t played for a long time: he is a little trainer, he comments a little and gives valuable advice to the head of the Zenit football club, with whom his stellar years are connected.
And Andrei got on the Forbes list because after Zenit’s outstanding victories in the UEFA Super Cup in 2008 he was noticed and invited Arsenal to his place for an amount of $ 16.5 million. Which amounted to a third of what Andrey earned in 10 years.
9. Sergey Bobrovsky
Earned for 10 years: 44.4 million dollars.
In the list of the most “monetary” Russian athletes of the decade, hockey players confidently lead. Of the 10 places in the ranking, they firmly settled in six. Russian sport has always been famous for its hockey traditions, and although the NHL is rather stingy compared to other clubs, the salaries of top players there exceed 10 million a year.
Bobrovsky was no exception, and Bryzgalov supplanted him from Philadelphia, but Sergei managed to sign a favorable agreement with the Florida Panthers. Now Bobrovsky is the second highest paid among all hockey players, goalkeepers of the world.
8. Yuri Zhirkov
Earned for 10 years: 49.7 million dollars.
Another native of Zenit, who was lucky enough to be bought out by a foreign club. Chelsea was flattered by Zhirkov in the stellar years of Russian football for 2008-2009, but Yuri did not have contact with the British.
However, he continues to play until now, and last year put a third checkmark in front of the Russian title.
7. Alexander Radulov
Earned for 10 years: 58.5 million dollars.
The year 2014 affected not only the pockets of ordinary Russians, but also the KHL players. If previously the salaries of top hockey players corresponded (or even exceeded) the salaries of their colleagues from the NHL, then after the crisis, the situation of Russian hockey was no longer so rosy.
If in 2008 Radulov decided to leave Nashville to the Ufa hockey club, because there they promised to pay him 4 times more, then in 2016 his eyes turned to the other side of the ocean. And not in vain, because a year later Alexander had signed a money contract with Dallas for more than $ 30 million.
6. Pavel Datsyuk
Earned for 10 years: 63.6 million dollars.
This Russian hockey player, who became the world champion in 2012 and the Olympic champion in 2018, has played for the Americans since the beginning of the 2000s. About 15 years of his sports career were given to the Detroit Red Wings.
In 2017, Datsyuk moved back to his homeland, becoming one of the top players in both the game and the money plan of Russia.
5. Ilya Kovalchuk
Earned in 10 years: 72 million dollars.
Oddly enough, Ilya did not lose money at all, having left the New Jersey Devils. The KHL then could still pay a player a salary comparable to the NHL. In addition, taxation in Russia was much more lenient to big business.
Therefore, having rejected the one hundred millionth contact with Devils, Ilya feels quite comfortable (financially) in Russian open spaces. And even the crisis did not hit hard on his income. True, since 2017, Kovalchuk kept looking in the direction of the United States, until he was bought by Montreal for a modest 700 thousand dollars.
4. Timothy Brains
Earned in 10 years: 72 million dollars.
The only basketball player in the ranking of the richest athletes in Russia over the past decade, almost from the very beginning of his “adult” sports career, played for teams from the United States. And this could not affect his income.
The start was made by a good contract with the New York Knicks, only a couple of tenths short of 10 million. Timofey’s sports career in American basketball clubs developed quite successfully, he was the first Russian to receive the NBA champion title. Already in 2016, his salary reached $ 64 million over 4 years.
However, then a series of injuries occurred, ending with the expulsion of Mozgov and his transfer to his native Khimki, where he once began his sports career. How soon the athlete will return to the site, it is not clear, he is still recovering from an injury.
3. Evgeni Malkin
Earned over 10 years: $ 94.6 million.
The beginning of the decade was not brilliant for Eugene: either a defeat in the Olympics, or an injury. However, he was able to reverse his fate, and thanks to the brilliant game of this hockey player, the Pittsburgh club extended a contract with him for an impressive amount of $ 76 million.
Still, how not to try to keep the player who got the Stanley Cup three times and twice became the world champion? And in 2019, Malkin crossed the milestone of 100 points in the championships. Before him, only four Russian athletes managed this.
2. Alexander Ovechkin
Earned for 10 years: 136.9 million dollars.
In 2010, Ovechkin held the palm of the income among Russian hockey players thanks to his sports achievements. He was then one of the “dearest” NHL hockey players.
But now the number of banknotes in his pocket is replenished mainly due to advertising revenue. Ovechkin is not only successful as an athlete (every season he has at least 30 goals in his track record), but also has an attractive appearance and a charming smile. Another component of success, according to the athlete, is his exemplary behavior, respect for his own fans and the overall image of a good person.
True, according to Alexander, hockey players do not make a lot of advertising, and the blame for everything is the closed form of hockey players (you can’t see the face behind the closed mask, and the figure behind baggy ammunition). But this did not stop him from frequently and often advertising sporting goods or commercial services (in the fall he became the face of Promsvyazbank).
Despite all the monetary attractiveness of the NHL, the league’s policy regarding the Olympics is not as free as the famous hockey player would like. The league categorically refuses to let its participants play in the midst of its own championship. And in the collection of Alexander’s awards, only the Olympic gold medal is missing. Therefore, there are persistent rumors that when the contract with the current club of Ovechkin ends (just on the eve of the upcoming Beijing Olympics), the sportsman will not extend it. At least until the Olympics.
1. Maria Sharapova
Earned in 10 years: 197.8 million dollars.
All over the world there are only ten tennis players who received the Grand Slam, and Maria Sharapova is one of them. Unfortunately, her dazzling career crippled her doping scandal in 2016. And although thanks to the voluntary recognition of the tennis player, the big sports authorities shortened her term of removal from the tournament by 9 months, this did not save Sharapova's media career. But it was precisely the earnings from advertising that accounted for the lion's share of the money she received - at least 80%.
Involuntary rest also influenced the playing qualities of a tennis player. A brilliant return did not work: defeats followed one after the other, and victories - only occasionally, Maria often suffered injuries and eventually moved from the top ten deep down in the sports hierarchy. This did not suit the proud athlete, and only a couple of days ago she announced that she was leaving big sport. At the same time, she still retains the title of the highest paid Russian athlete of the decade in the Forbes rating.
However, you should not regret the lost financial opportunities, because Mary is now a candy tycoon. Last year, the turnover of her company for the production and sale of sweets amounted to more than $ 20 million.
