OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- Athletes have a long history of getting paid for endorsing products. The top 100 highest paid athlete endorsers collectively earned $917 million in 2015, up 24% from 2014. Many received hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single tweet about a certain product. And some of them are getting paid to throw their marketing muscle behind some of the brands on your convenience-store shelves.
According to Forbes magazine’s "World's Highest Paid Athletes," these earnings projections are subject to change and are constantly updated. A team at social media agency opendorse analyzed this year’s highest-paid athletes, their current endorsement deals, earning power and estimated cost per Twitter endorsement.
The following collection of athletes just happens to be helping to sell some of the brands in your c-stores:
11. Serena Williams (Tennis)
Collective yearly endorsement earnings: $13 million
C-store product among her multitude of other endorsements: Gatorade
10. Derrick Rose (Basketball)
Collective yearly endorsement earnings: $15 million
C-store product among her multitude of other endorsements: Powerade
9. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Boxing)
Collective yearly endorsement earnings: $15 million
C-store product among her multitude of other endorsements: Burger King
8. Usain Bolt (Sprinting)
Collective yearly endorsement earnings: $21 million
C-store product among her multitude of other endorsements: Gatorade
7. Lionel Messi (Soccer)
Collective yearly endorsement earnings: $22 million
C-store product among her multitude of other endorsements: PepsiCo
6. Maria Sharapova (Tennis)
Collective yearly endorsement earnings: $23 million
C-store product among her multitude of other endorsements: Evian
Click here for the top five and to view the Convenience Store Products slideshow.
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