Ronaldo Pockets $300M

Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo leads the list at $300M, heavily funded by his Saudi Arabian club to boost the league's global profile.

The ten highest-paid athletes will collectively earn $935M this year, a tiny 1% growth reflecting a lack of major transfers between teams.

Egyptian star Mohamed Salah took a pay cut to join Turkish club Trabzonspor, but lucrative merchandise and endorsement deals keep his earnings at $40M.

CrossFit, a $4B gym workout brand with about 4M fans, lacks large amateur events; Xenom's 10-event, two-day contest is built to fill that gap.

Xenom aims to copy Hyrox, the founders' running-and-gym race, which drew 1.5M entrants this year and is projected to bring in $270M.

Tech investment firm WndrCo, run by former Disney chair Jeffrey Katzenberg, supplied most of Xenom's $15M and helped the founders regain control of Hyrox.

The Irish government will split €102M between the national horse and greyhound racing authorities in 2027, representing a €2.9M yearly increase.

Officials explicitly tied this extra funding to improving animal welfare and integrity rules across both sports to ensure better oversight.

The national horse racing body receives €81.6M to fund a record schedule, though this falls €6.4M short of its original financial goal.

Sports streaming platform DAZN is launching local broadcast and streaming partnerships with 10 NBA teams this season.

The company views these regional agreements as a stepping stone to acquire highly coveted national media rights.

This strategic expansion helps DAZN build its overall US brand recognition beyond its current focus on combat sports.

FIFA, world soccer's governing body, elects its president in March, and Africa's 54 associations make up more than a quarter of its 211 voters.

African soccer chief Patrice Motsepe credited Infantino's past support; Infantino says FIFA invested $1B in Africa over 10 years and pledged more.

The backing counters losses in Europe and North America, where many nations dropped him over his shelved plan to sell a stake in FIFA tournaments.

Commissioner Jessica Berman, the league's top executive, said the NWSL will soon share its financials with potential owners of teams 19 and 20.

The league has 16 teams, and Atlanta and Columbus will join in 2028 for record entry fees of $165M and $205M, respectively.

Berman cited strong investor demand and the goal of national reach, noting US leagues like the NFL and NBA each have 30+ teams.

The league is backing New Jersey regulators against betting platform Kalshi, arguing these prediction contracts should face state gambling rules instead of federal oversight.

Football drove $1.8B in prediction trading on its opening Sunday, making up more than half of the total market volume.

The league fears unregulated markets could encourage game manipulation, such as intentional fumbles, or insider betting on injuries and referee assignments.