Manchester United star
Wayne Rooney called it as he saw it during Super Bowl XLVI, “Trying to watch super bowl final. How do they call this football. Like
watching paint dry. Looking forward to adverts and music.”
He has $24 million reasons for his bias. That’s how much the 26-year
old British striker earned last year, placing him fourth of the
highest-paid (what Americans call) soccer players in the world.
Poor-mouthing the NFL might be seen like biting the hand that feeds him,
given that he raked in $17 million in 2011 in salary and bonus from his
club in the world at $2.24 billion), which is owned by U.S. billionaire
and his family, who also own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However,
Rooney can feel pretty secure after signing a contract extension
commanding one of the highest salary and bonus structures in the sport,
helping United win its record 19th Premier League title (and his
fourth), and leading the club in goals. He can also boast selling the
best-selling jersey in the league.
10 Highest Earning Players
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Soccer attracts more corporate money than any other sport in the
world; it's players attract over $250 million a year from sponsors. Of
the $256 million the top ten star athletes earned last year, 43% ($111
million) was from endorsements from the likes of Adidas, Nike, Puma,
Pepsi, and EA Sports. Figures include salaries, bonuses and endorsements
earned during 2011.