(1) The highest paid athlete in 2009, all sources of income added together (salary and/or prize winnings, product endorsements, etc.) was who?
(2) Does it look like that he or she will repeat that next year? :ehh:
Forum, please advise and discuss.
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(1) The highest paid athlete in 2009, all sources of income added together (salary and/or prize winnings, product endorsements, etc.) was who?
(2) Does it look like that he or she will repeat that next year? :ehh:
Forum, please advise and discuss.
1) The one took the most steroids?
2) Depends on the quality of steroids.
I doubt that anymore. True, perhaps three years ago, but I admire your attempt to take this thread to another level. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by LaVolpe
Debatable. I did a search and found a Forbes article saying that Tiger Woods is the highest paid athlete. However, this is athlete in the loosest sense of the term. Calling a golfer an athlete is like calling twitter a productivity tool.
I would have thought it would be a football player (soccer).
If ignore Golf (as it cant really be counted as a Sport) then it will probably be 1 of this bunch.
David Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo, Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett !
A few years ago it was the Hand-Egg player Peyton Manning. (I'm a fan of American Football, but the name irritates me!)
If you ignore product endorsements etc (so it is just salary and prizes), I suspect the highest paid will still be the F1 driver Kimi Raikonnen - even tho he is having a year off (rumours claim he is being paid 'just' 20 million Euros next year, as opposed to 50 million for the last couple of years).
its not aroid? didnt he sign one of the most ridiculous contracts ever recently? like in the past few years
Possibly... according to the unreliable WikiPedia he has the biggest contract (excluding endorsements etc).
There are several issues about that list tho, including:
While you could argue he is the highest paid based on that list, I would disagree.
- It is contract only, so excludes single-player events like Tennis, Golf, etc
- It is for the total contract, so it is also spread over many years - thus the payment per year ($27.5m) is lower than other people (up to $51m).
- Many highly paid people wont even make the list simply because their sport generally has shorter contract periods (such as football).
- Many sports don't publish their contract details (including F1 at times, Alonso is rumoured to be on $37m a year now at Ferrari)
i am assuming you meant A Rod, then his contract was $275m over 10 years.Quote:
aroid?
David Beckham for instance has a contract of $250m over 5 years. Although it is difficult to separate Beckham's commercial earning from his footballing ones, as his contract is supposed to include a share of Shirt Sales for instance which could be worth up to $10m a year.
I suspect Si is right in just straight contract terms then it may very well be Kimi Raikonnen although that will change after next year.
f1 racers make that much??? how do they make money? ive never seen a race on tv in my life. is it bigger in other countries? or maybe its a southern thing?
edit: ^^ yes Aroid is a-rod. sorry if i offended you. :P
Yep they make that much, not all of them, but those that become multi world champions like Raikonnen, Alonso & Schumacher (7 time champion now retired) make shed loads of money.Quote:
f1 racers make that much???
They make money by being paid lots to drive very fast round racing circuits. Also they drive probably the fastest cars certainly in terms of acceleration in the world.Quote:
how do they make money?
Are you in the US ? then you will probably not have seen it as you have your own Nascar and Indie car series, so F1 racing is not as Big.Quote:
ive never seen a race on tv in my life.
Oh yes, its bigger in virtually every other country in the world.Quote:
is it bigger in other countries?
F1 hold races around the world in many different countries, here is the 2009 race calendar -
29 March Australia
5 April Malaysia
19 April Bahrain
10 May Spain
24 May Monaco
7 June Canada
21 June Great Britain
28 June France
12 July Germany
26 July Hungary
9 August Turkey
23 August Europe (Valencia)
6 September Italy
13 September Belgium
27 September Singapore
11 October Japan
18 October China
1 November Brazil
15 November Abu Dhabi
In terms of TV viewing figures, F1 is (or at least has been in the last few years) the biggest sporting event worldwide... but of course you need to take into account that all of the teams are in the same 'match', whereas the NFL (apart from the superbowl) has up to 16, and the Olympics has hundreds (or 'just' 30 depending on how the viewing figures are measured).
F1 hasn't been very popular in the US (that may change soon, the USF1 team starts next year) as the motor sport focus is on home-grown championships, which are basically less skilful.
As an indicator, Bourdais dominated Champ Car (he won 4 championships in a row), then moved to F1 and came 17th of 20 in the championship, while his inexperienced replacement team mate (who only drove in 8 races of 18) came 14th. He got replaced by a complete newbie half way thru his second season. This is a bit unfair on Bourdais due to details I haven't mentioned, but based on lots of other drivers who have switched, it isn't too far from what he could have achieved.
Based on G-forces and reaction times etc, F1 drivers get compared to fighter pilots, but the US based series are noticeably lower... perhaps commercial pilots? :D
$ 250 over 5 years isn't really that good. Even I have made more than that.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeedSomeAnswers
i meant in terms of how does f1 racing bring in enough profits to allow the drivers to make that much. but since u said it huge outside the US, it makes more sense now. i had no idea.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeedSomeAnswers
:lol:Quote:
$ 250 over 5 years isn't really that good. Even I have made more than that.
Yes well give or take $249,999,750
I have now edited my original post :0)
Ah yes i see what you mean, the global Audience is very big but also a number of large Car manufacturers either own or co-own an F1 team, e.g. Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and up until recently Toyota and BMW.Quote:
i meant in terms of how does f1 racing bring in enough profits to allow the drivers to make that much. but since u said it huge outside the US, it makes more sense now.
It's the Teams that pay the salaries, and from what i gather the Teams do not make much if any money out of the F1 competition itself, the F1 Rights holders make most of the money by charging everyone else a fortune to be in there competition.
The teams do get Global marketing exposure though and often you see innovation that were first trialled in F1 a few years down the line in their road cars.
From what I remember the prize money for the teams (assuming they score at least 1 point in the season) was from about $5m to about $100m.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeedSomeAnswers
I presume that is changing now that there will be more teams, and new contracts have been signed (I think the teams will now get a much larger slice of the pie, but still a lower percentage than they would like).
When I can, I follow F1 and IRL racing... very hard to do so here in the US though (curse you NASCAR!) Although I did find out this past season that IRL is on the Versus network (part of the ESPN group) and F1 was on Speed Network. So now, next spring I'll know where to look for them at (stumbled upon them almost a quarter into the season). For some reason I find them a lot more entertaining than NASCAR. Oh and some GPs too... I'll watch GPs too if I can.
-tg
I heard during coverage of the recent Tiger Woods car crash that he will likely become the first BILLIONAIRE "athlete". If that's true, that's nuts. That's nuts even if it's not true.
Golf not a sport?? Spoken like people who have never played it ;)
Golf/snooker/etc require skills, but very little in the way of physical effort - which is why I think of them as games rather than sports. That doesn't mean they aren't good (I enjoy watching snooker), just that calling them sports is debatable.
...and for anyone who is thinking of adding F1 to that list, the drivers spend many hours in the gym each week, and lose several kilos during a race from sweat.
I've known overweight ppl that can be classified as elite athletes based on that criteria. Of course "race" is out of context to mean foot race ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by si_the_geek
Some definitions
Sport: an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
Athlete: a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.
So is poker (the card game) a sport? Its competitive but is it physical? About same amount of physical strength, stamina & agility that pool requires; though pool/billiards is a recognized sport?
What about hot dog eating? Wow, what a sport! Come on!
Maybe Wii will be a recognized sport next year? Can't you see sponsored contests in the future offering cash prizes? One can't argue that Wii can be very physical; even to the point of requiring medical attention.
Well, at least if I play a hand of poker every now and again and eat a hot dog, maybe toss a game of bowling or pool, I can consider myself an athlete. The competition is of course with myself; so not much money in it, but better to be labeled an athlete vs. sloth.
Working in an office is a sport, considering the amount of backstabbing, beating around the bush and leaping to conclusions we have to do.
I have to agree that Tiger Woods is the highest paid athlete in 2009 and may have been for several years. However, if Titleist and Nike have any brains at all, that will all end.Quote:
Originally Posted by demotivater
Tiger, read my lips. Girlfriends are expensive, and it may cost you this as well:
http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/me...ristensen-155/
Oh, and don't forget to tip the plastic surgeon. Those facial scratches are hard to hide on HD TV.
I think golf is a genuine sport. It takes an enormous amount of skill to play it at a high level. I've played it enough to know that is true. It may not be as athletic a sport as something like tennis or soccer thus you have players in their mid and upper 40s still competing at a top level but it's definitely a sport.
Well Said i have to agree Si, This is nothing against Golf/Snooker/Darts/Poker e.t.c but these are games not sports.Quote:
Golf/snooker/etc require skills, but very little in the way of physical effort - which is why I think of them as games rather than sports. That doesn't mean they aren't good (I enjoy watching snooker), just that calling them sports is debatable.
They can require great skill, but little physical activity in my opinion you need both to be a sport.
+1. Golf is a genuine sport. Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters in baseball of all time but seldom broke 100 on the golf course. Michael Jordan tried to play professional golf and gave up. Ever watch Charles Barkley try to play?Quote:
Originally Posted by EntityX
Tiger Woods is both an athlete and a golfer and ranks among the top three who ever played golf. Now he is an embarrassment to golf, worse than anything Fred Couples ever was. Woods did not need help from only an attorney the other day. He needed a psychiatrist. :sick:
Great analogy. I'll bet Ted Williams and Michael Jordan can't write code either. :rolleyes:
I bet i could beat him in a race !!Quote:
Tiger Woods is both an athlete and a golfer
If someone wants to argue that golf is just a game and not a sport that's ok with me. I understand why they would say that. To me it's a sport but to someone else maybe it's not. You can't force your own definition of something to be adopted by others.
NeedSomeAnswers maybe you could beat Tiger Woods in a race and maybe not but it's not likely you would beat him at golf. The top athletes of whatever sport are great in that sport and they may or may not be great at other sports.
I don't think Tiger Woods is an embarrassment to golf. He made some mistakes. I've made tons of mistakes in my life but I'm not in the public spotlight like he is. I pray that we all learn our lessons and awaken from our errors. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
Soccer has a giant net with 1 guy who is standing in front of it blocking you from kicking a ball about 1/500th the size of the actual goal net...
Golf you have to hit a ball only slightly bigger than the hole you are trying to get it in, with a club...
If golf is not a physical sport, then what is it? a mental exercise?
When a golfer has a physical injury, that can keep them from playing. Things like poker are not in this category, they are no physical requirements, just mental.
I was attempting to be amusing ...Quote:
NeedSomeAnswers maybe you could beat Tiger Woods in a race and maybe not but it's not likely you would beat him at golf.
If Golf is a Sport then Darts is a Sport (have you seen darts players, would you call them atheletes ?) and Snooker and Pool are sports and even Poker is a Sport what about Tiddlywinks i could go on but basically if Golf is a Sport you could argue that any game is a sport.
I am not trying to denigrate Golf here, it just isn't a sport !
What about Darts then ? if you injure you arm you cant play, so it has a physical element. Is Darts a Sport ?Quote:
Things like poker are not in this category, they are no physical requirements, just mental.
Yup. Of course some sports are more physically enduring than others, and the "if you don't sweat it is not a sport" thing is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. So there are many things I consider to be a sport, regardless if another sport like hockey or football requires you to be bigger and stronger than these other sports.
Hell, Jockeys are athletes and they don't have to do any of the running in their sport..
what if a poker player develops hemorrhoids that prevent them from being able to sit at the table?Quote:
Originally Posted by kleinma
-tg
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by techgnome
You have to physically sit when playing poker?
Most hockey players play golf in the offseason. Therefore golf must be a sport.
If they were a truly dedicated poker player they could do without a chair and kneel at the table while playing.Quote:
Originally Posted by techgnome
John Daly was unavailable for comment.Quote:
Originally Posted by mendhak
http://cdn.bleacherreport.com/images...play_image.jpg
Showing a picture of an obese John Daly doesn't prove anything. There are obese Suma wrestlers, obese football players, obese weightlifters, obese shotputters, etc. Many overweight professional athletes are surprisingly successful at the games that they play.
Babe Ruth fought a weight problem most of his career. C. C. Sabathia almost won the 2009 A.L. Cy Young award. The list goes on and on. BTW, what does any of this have to do with the OP?
My conclusion based on what has been discussed here is that Tiger Woods is an exceptional athlete, Tiger Woods is the highest paid athlete in the world (and has been for several years), and Tiger Woods needs professional psychiatric treatment. I am saddened to see what he has done to his life, ruining the image that he created for millions of fans who enjoyed watching him play. :sick:
Now that i object to, The Horse is clearly the Athlete here !!Quote:
Hell, Jockeys are athletes
So is Phil Taylor then, probably the most exceptional athlete in the world. All Hail Phil Taylor !!!Quote:
My conclusion based on what has been discussed here is that Tiger Woods is an exceptional athlete
All the barfing (or flipping as they call it) the jockies have to do to keep their low weight is almost a sport in itself.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeedSomeAnswers
Collegiate and high school wrestlers often have to do the same thing to make weight. Are they athletes? I dare anyone to try wrestling for 6 to 7 minutes at the collegiate level. When through, your body will burn like it was on fire. :ehh:Quote:
Originally Posted by kleinma
John recently had stomach surgery and has lost 80+ pounds. Still overweight, but definitely not obese anymore. He hasn't looked this good in years, still hasn't helped his golf game any.Quote:
Showing a picture of an obese John Daly doesn't prove anything.
The top players in golf spend as much time in the gym as they do on the range. Golf requires flexibility, muscle coordination, core strength, and focus. The full golf swing has around 200 moving parts to it all of which must be synced with body movements (all of this done in a second or two with swing speeds of 110+ MPH). On top of it all, with as much finesse and control that you need some shots require brute strength. I'd like to see some of you hit a ball 200 yards in 4-5 inch rough with a 5 iron. I'd be willing to bet 90% of you guys wouldn't even move the ball from it's resting spot, let alone stick it on a green thats 15 yards wide 2 feet from the pin ;)
You're right. Because I wouldn't be in the rough in the first place.
-tg
ok, so if you dribble your tee shot to just before the lady tees then ;)
A post that shouldn't have happened. Sometimes I'm too restless.
So... you're judging MY ability based solely on yours? Hardly seems fair.
Of all the times I've golfed, I've only ever lost the ball once, and it was the only time I badly shanked it - right into some trees. I've had pretty good success keeping it on the fairway. And I can do it... it isn't a sport.
-tg
putt putt golf doesn't count. :PQuote:
Of all the times I've golfed, I've only ever lost the ball once, and it was the only time I badly shanked it - right into some trees.
A generous person might be bribed into saying that I have played golf. I can hit the shot that was described, though if it ended up on the green, it would only be because it had to land SOMEWHERE. On the plus side, we had gas powered golf carts, and knew how to turn off the governor, which was done as soon as we were out of range of the clubhouse. Therefore, if you consider NASCAR, Baha rallys, bumper cars, or golf, a sport, then we certainly did play sports those days. If the game was a good one, I rarely hit the green, as I was laughing too hard to even hit the ball. Those were great days.
some of my best days golfing resulted in some of my poorest scores. I play for two reasons, the challenge of the game and the camaraderie that comes from playing with groups of friends.
Hell, there was the summer we had the shotgun match play. Rules went like this, Match play style tourney, each team brings at least one case of beer. The team which loses a hole must shotgun a beer on the next tee box, if the hole is a draw both teams must shotgun a beer. (of course the winning team was always welcome to shotgun a beer with the losing team)
Needless to say we made it about 12 holes.
I've never seen a golfer who could play well when loaded with booze. Few sports tolerate alcohol and golf doesn't either.
That being said, people make fun of badminton also. Is badminton a sport? Play three games of badminton against an expert and you will crawl off the court, assuming you tried to win. :ehh:
Loaded, no, buzzed, yes. Drinking a small amount of alcohol during the round can improve your game because it loosens you up a bit and helps you swing more freely. Go overboard though and you're right, say good bye to any hope of a good round.Quote:
I've never seen a golfer who could play well when loaded with booze.
Now hungover, on the other hand, is a different story. I've been witness to some unbelievable golf the morning after a heavy night out. A buddy of mine polished off a fifth of bourbon the night before our 9 am tee time. Went out the next day, puking his guts out on the first three holes, and shot a 68. Probably one of the greatest rounds of golf I've personally witnessed.
This same rule applies to both Snooker and Pool, its called the "1 Pint Rule" !!Quote:
Drinking a small amount of alcohol during the round can improve your game because it loosens you up a bit and helps you swing more freely
The first pint of beer that you drink actually make you play better (admittedly in some small number of cases people just think they play better), then every subsequent Pint after this point your ability gets steadily worse until you collapse !
I'd say Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo of Football.
I'd say you're about 4 years late to the discussion.
Agreed :ehh:
How does one even FIND things like this?