The list of the most famous athletes in the world is dominated by footballers, and no athlete is better known than Cristiano Ronaldo.
In the most recent issue of ESPN the Magazine, Ben Alamar, ESPN's director of sports analytics, came up with a way to measure every top athlete's fame. The formula uses earnings on and off the field, social-media popularity, and Google search popularity.
Below we take a closer look at the 20 best-known athletes; the list contains eight soccer players, four tennis players, three basketball players, three golfers, a cricket player, and a track star. You can see the entire list in ESPN the Magazine.
No. 1 Cristiano Ronaldo
Sport: Soccer
Country: Portugal
Salary: $52.2 million
Endorsements: $27.0 million
Facebook likes: 111.4 million
Twitter followers: 42.1 million
No. 2 LeBron James
Sport: Basketball
Country: United States
Salary: $23.0 million
Endorsements: $44.0 million
Facebook likes: 22.5 million
Twitter followers: 31.2 million
No. 3 Lionel Messi
Sport: Soccer
Country: Argentina
Salary: $48.5 million
Endorsements: $22.0 million
Facebook likes: (does not have a Facebook page)
Twitter followers: (does not have a Twitter page)
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