Roger Federer (centre) and other top earning athletes across different sports

Roger Federer was the first of the Big 3 to win Major titles and hence the first one out of the three to be deemed as the GOAT.

Federer won 20 Grand Slams during his career, ranking him third in the list behind the other two members of the Big 3. Novak Djokovic holds the record of 24 Grand Slams followed by Rafael Nadal with 22. Federer’s tally includes a record eight Wimbledon titles along with 31 Grand Slam finals, putting him second in line to Novak Djokovic’s 36 Major finals.

The Swiss sought retirement in 2022 after an illustrious career that spanned over two decades and was marked by a range of titles and brand endorsements based on Federer’s success as a tennis player. Therefore, the prize money that accompanied the 20 Grand Slams and multiple Masters titles, coupled with the brand associations with giants like Rolex and Uniqlo, allots Federer a net worth of around $550 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth).

Similarly, during his professional career, Federer’s earnings summed up to around $130 million, the third-highest behind Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic yet again.

According to Sportico, Federer was the first tennis player to earn $1 billion throughout his career, an amount that comes as a sum total of prize money and endorsements amongst other things, following which he is estimated to have retired with earnings of $1.1 billion.

In such a scenario, it would not be wrong to say that in terms of tennis, although Federer has professionally retired from the game, his whopping career earnings, both on-court and off-court, the latter still being a part of the Swiss’ income, place him financially ahead of other tennis players, and in terms of certain intricacies, ahead of other sportspersons too.

Career earnings of other sportspersons

Roger Federer reached the zenith of success in tennis before he decided to say goodbye to it and ended his career in a way that placed him ahead of his contemporaries and other tennis players both professionally and financially.

There are a range of factors that determine a sportsperson’s financial status, and while a lot of it varies from one sport to another, off-court or off-field earnings are an important aspect of the discussion.

Comparing Federer as a tennis titan to the titans of other sports, as per Celebrity Net Worth, golfer Tiger Woods’ net worth is around $800 million while the NBA’s LeBron James has an estimated net worth of $700 million and Lionel Messi is worth around $650 Million.

Considering that the aforementioned numbers come from the sporting aspect coupled with endorsements, it is perhaps hard to draw comparisons that are not categorically biased owing to the former.

Drawing comparisons between Federer’s earnings and other sportspersons

Looking back at the year Federer retired from tennis, owing to inactivity that preceded his actual retirement at the Laver Cup in 2022, his on-court earnings were around $0.7 million while his off-court earnings were $90 million (source: Forbes). He was well ahead of sporting titans such as Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and LeBron James, among others.
Roger Federer at the Laver Cup 2022
The point to note here is that while all these sportspersons were a part of the list of Forbes Highest Paid Athletes in 2022, this was also the year Federer retired from tennis. Hence, owing to his off-court earnings, not only was he able to sustain a position in the said list but as per intricacies arising from the same, was rather ahead of the other athletes in terms of money that came from endorsements, sponsorship deals and appearance fees. Considering the Swiss’ few on-court appearances that year, his being on the list reflects how the business of sports operates.

As part of his retirement announcement, the Swiss did mention how generous tennis has been to him and said (via Sportico):

“I am 41 years old. I have played more than 1,500 matches over 24 years.”

“Tennis has treated me more generously than I ever would have dreamt, and now I must recognize when it is time to end my competitive career,” he added.

The former World No. 1 left the international tennis arena but still occupies a significant name in lists pertaining to the world’s richest athletes. Therefore, in line with the other records created by him and the unceasing fandom that accompanies his presence, sportspersons across both tennis and other sports are likely to face challenges while matching up to Federer’s stature.