List of largest sports contracts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following is a list of the largest sports contracts. These figures include signing bonuses but exclude options, buyouts, and endorsement deals. This list does not reflect the highest annual salaries or career earnings, only the largest contracts and thus is limited to athletes in team sports and auto racing. Athletes in individual sports, such as golf, tennis, and boxing are not employed by a team and usually earn money primarily through event winnings. Included in this list are contracts totaling at least $100 million USD.

Contents 1 The list 2 Notes 3 References 4 See also

[edit] The list

Rank	Player	Team	Sport	Length of contract	Contract value (USD)	Average per year (USD)
1	Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees	Baseball	10 years (2008-2017)	$275,000,000 [1]	$27,500,000
2	Alex Rodriguez1	Texas Rangers*	Baseball	10 years (2001-2010)	$252,000,000 [2]	$25,200,000
3	Derek Jeter	New York Yankees	Baseball	10 years (2001-2010)	$189,000,000 [3]	$18,900,000
4	Michael Vick	Atlanta Falcons*	American football	10 years (2005-2014)	$167,000,000 [4]	$16,700,000
5	Manny Ramírez	Boston Red Sox	Baseball	8 years (2001-2008)	$160,000,000 [5]	$20,000,000
5	Fernando Alonso2	McLaren*	Auto racing	4 years (2007-2010)	$160,000,000 [6]	$40,000,000
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	Auto racing	3 years (2007-2009)	$153,000,000 [7]	$51,000,000
8	Miguel Cabrera	Detroit Tigers	Baseball	8 years (2008-2015)	$152,300,000 [8]	$19,037,500
9	Todd Helton	Colorado Rockies	Baseball	11 years (2001-2011)	$151,500,000 [9]	$12,863,636
10	Johan Santana	New York Mets	Baseball	6 years (2008-2013)	$137,500,000 [10]	$22,916,667
11	Kobe Bryant	Los Angeles Lakers	Basketball	7 years (2004-2011)	$136,400,000 [11]	$19,485,714
12	Alfonso Soriano	Chicago Cubs	Baseball	8 years (2007-2014)	$136,000,000 [12]	$17,000,000
13	Peyton Manning	Indianapolis Colts	American football	7 years (2005-2011)	$132,500,000 [13]	$18,928,571
14	Jermaine O'Neal	Indiana Pacers	Basketball	7 years (2003-2010)	$126,558,000 [14]	$18,079,714
15	Kevin Garnett	Minnesota Timberwolves*	Basketball	7 years (1998-2005)	$126,000,000 [15]	$18,000,000
15	Barry Zito	San Francisco Giants	Baseball	7 years (2007-2013)	$126,000,000 [16]	$18,000,000
15	Vernon Wells	Toronto Blue Jays	Baseball	7 years (2008-2014)	$126,000,000 [17]	$18,000,000
15	Rashard Lewis	Orlando Magic	Basketball	6 years (2007-2013)	$126,000,000 [18]	$21,000,000
19	Michael SchumacherR	Ferrari	Auto racing	4 years (1996-1999)	$124,000,000 [19]	$31,000,000
19	Alexander Ovechkin	Washington Capitals	Ice hockey	13 years (2008-2021)	$124,000,000 [20]	$9,538,461
21	Chris Webber	Sacramento Kings*	Basketball	7 years (2001-2007)	$122,718,750 [21]	$17,531,250
22	Tim Duncan	San Antonio Spurs	Basketball	7 years (2003-2010)	$122,007,704 [22]	$17,429,672
23	Mike Hampton	Colorado Rockies*	Baseball	8 years (2001-2008)	$121,000,000 [23]	$15,125,000
24	Shaquille O'Neal	Los Angeles Lakers*	Basketball	7 years (1996-2003)	$120,000,000 [24]	$17,142,857
24	Jason Giambi	New York Yankees	Baseball	7 years (2002-2008)	$120,000,000 [25]	$17,142,857
26	Carson Palmer	Cincinnati Bengals	American football	9 years (2006-2014)	$119,750,000‡ [26]	$13,305,555
27	Carlos Beltrán	New York Mets	Baseball	7 years (2005-2011)	$119,000,000 [27]	$17,000,000
28	Ken Griffey, Jr.	Cincinnati Reds	Baseball	9 years (2000-2008)	$116,500,000 [28]	$12,944,444
29	Donovan McNabb	Philadelphia Eagles	American football	12 years (2002-2013)	$115,000,000‡ [29]	$9,583,333
30	Juwan Howard	Washington Wizards*	Basketball	7 years (1996-2003)	$105,000,000 [30]	$15,000,000
30	Kevin BrownR	Los Angeles Dodgers*	Baseball	7 years (1999-2005)	$105,000,000 [31]	$15,000,000
32	Jason Kidd	New Jersey Nets*	Basketball	6 years (2003-2009)	$103,572,000 [32]	$17,262,000
33	Ben Roethlisberger	Pittsburgh Steelers	American Football	8 years (2008-2015)	$102,000,000 [33]	$12,750,000
34	Albert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	Baseball	7 years (2004-2010)	$100,000,000 [34]	$14,285,714
34	Carlos Lee	Houston Astros	Baseball	6 years (2007-2012)	$100,000,000 [35]	$16,666,666
34	Shaquille O'Neal	Miami Heat	Basketball	5 years (2005-2010)	$100,000,000 [36]	$20,000,000
34	Brett FavreR	Green Bay Packers	American Football	10 years (2001-2010)	$100,000,000 [37]	$10,000,000

¹ - Rodriguez opted out of this contract after the 2007 season
² - Alonso opted out of this contract after the 2007 season
^R - retired
* - no longer on team
‡ - not guaranteed

[edit] Notes

• Contracts in the NFL are often not guaranteed, meaning that players who retire, or who are cut, do not receive their contracted salaries after their release from the team.
• NBA and NHL seasons span two calendar years.
• Michael Vick was suspended by the NFL in 2007. The Atlanta Falcons were unsuccessful in a civil legal process to attempt to recoup $20 million of the $37 million in bonuses paid to Vick under terms of his contract extension.
• During his contract years, Michael Schumacher had significantly higher annual earnings than the athletes on this list with larger total contracts. On top of his $31 million per year paid by the Ferrari team, which alone ranked as the highest annual earnings at the time, he also earned a significant amount more per year from race winnings.
• David Beckham signed a 5-year deal with MLS soccer team Los Angeles Galaxy that was worth a reported $250 million,^[1] but that figure included commercial endorsements; only $10 million a year of that figure is salary from the club, while the rest will come via existing endorsements and profit sharing with the club.^{[2] [3]}
• Lewis Hamilton signed a contract with McLaren Mercedes worth at least ₤70 million ($138 million USD) over 5 seasons (2008-2012). However, no official contract details have been released by the team. ^[4]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of highest paid baseball players
• Transfer (football), contains a list of most expensive transfers in association football