China's highest-paid athletes
Thursday, 31st July 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
It's gotta be tha shoes... the Reebok Yao Ming ATR Elite All-star
As reported by Qilu TV (hat tip to Shanghaiist), the top three earners in the Chinese sports world ranked according to the sum of their basic annual pay, prize money, endorsement and appearance fees are Yao Ming (RMB250 million), Liu Xiang (RMB70 million) and Guo Jingjing (RMB15 million). These are followed by Sun Jihai (RMB10 million), Shao Jiayi (RMB6 million), Dong Fangzhuo (RMB4.8 million) and Zheng Zhi (RMB4.5 million).
For the most part, Chinese athletes have yet to be fetching the astronomical salaries and endorsement contracts common for superstars in the US or Europe, but they are beginning to catch up. According to Qilu TV in Shandong province, Yao Ming is the highest-earning Chinese athlete, pulling in 250 million yuan (US$36.5 million) per year.
Being an NBA All-Star and a celebrity in both the US and China markets, Yao is miles ahead of the rest of China's biggest sports stars in terms of income. His 250 million yuan/year is more than double what Liu Xiang, Guo Jingjing, Sun Jihai, Shao Jiayi, Dong Fangzhuo and Zheng Zhi make combined.
Here's the breakdown of the athletes by gender, sport and annual income:
Yao Ming – male – basketball – 250 million yuan
Liu Xiang – male – 110m hurdles – 70 million yuan
Guo Jingjing – female – diving – 15 million yuan
Sun Jihai – male – football/soccer – 10 million yuan
Shao Jiayi – male – football/soccer – 6 million yuan
Dong Fangzhuo – football/soccer – 4.8 million
Zheng Zhi – football/soccer – 4.5 million
Aside from how far ahead of the pack Yao's earnings are, it is also noteworthy that a woman – Guo Jingjing – is in the top three, and four of the top seven are footballers, despite China being universally acknowledged as a weak football/soccer country. That said, it is unlikely that Shao Jiayi will be pulling in much in the way of endorsements or paid appearances in the next year after missing a crucial penalty kick earlier this year in a World Cup qualifier against Australia in Kunming.
Ten years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine Chinese athletes pulling in millions of dollars each year – a testament to the rapidly growing importance of professional sports and sports marketing. At this point though, it is difficult to imagine any Chinese athletes coming close to Tiger Woods' US$127 million annual income, however Yao's salary would be enough to make him one of the top ten highest-paid American athletes had he been born across the Pacific.
Tags: Dong Fangzhuo, endorsements, Guo Jingjing, NBA, Shao Jiayi, sports marketing, Sun Jihai, Tiger Woods, Yao Ming, Zheng Zhi