Sports Broadcast 485: Travis Kelce's Endorsement Income Outshines Others in the Field
In the world of sports, the latest news highlights the success stories and challenges faced by various leagues and athletes. Here's a roundup of some of the most interesting developments.
The NBA continues to dominate the headlines, with the five highest-earning players for the 2025/2026 season including LeBron James, who boasts a net worth exceeding 1.2 billion euros. His earnings are bolstered by lifelong Nike endorsements and historically high contracts, such as a $100 million deal over 3 years with the Cleveland Cavaliers. While specific rankings for the top five are yet to be fully detailed, Paul George ($51.67 million) and Kawhi Leonard ($50 million) are among the top NBA salaries for the upcoming season.
Meanwhile, it's not all smooth sailing for the WNBA and NWSL, despite their commercial success. Discussions at RISE: Women's Sports revealed growing pains as these leagues establish their new statuses.
The NFL also saw its fair share of financial news, with quarterbacks dominating the top earners. Justin Herbert is the third-highest-paid player, making a combined $71 million, while Josh Allen is second with $73 million. Dak Prescott and Tua Tagovailoa follow closely behind, earning $58 million and $54.5 million, respectively. Interestingly, among the top 11 and 16 highest-paid players, all are quarterbacks when considering on-field salary. After that, there's a lot of variety among the players with the top 50 highest contracts.
Travis Kelce, a Chiefs tight end, is the NFL player with the most earnings from endorsements, topping $32 million. The highest-paid player in the league is Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who makes a combined $80 million.
In other sports business news, StubHub (NYSE: STUB) had its first day of trading after its IPO. The latest Sporticast episode discusses these sports business stories, including a detailed look at the 20 highest-paid players in the NFL, according to Sportico. The episode, hosted by Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams, also features a discussion on the growing pains experienced by the WNBA and NWSL.
Lastly, the Masters tournament will see some new media partners this year, with ESPN and CBS joining Amazon as media partners for the event. Amazon has secured streaming rights to the first two rounds of the Masters.
As always, the world of sports business continues to evolve, with new success stories and challenges emerging every day. Stay tuned for more updates!
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