Richest Sports in the World, Ranked
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We rank by the total money each sport moves worldwide — combined league and event revenue, club and franchise valuations, media-rights value, and player pay — weighted toward global scale rather than a single league's balance sheet. A sport whose money is spread across many countries outranks one whose wealth sits in a single national league.
- Global No. 1
Soccer (association football)
Soccer wins on total money moved because its wealth is spread across hundreds of professional leagues on every continent, topped by the World Cup. European club revenue alone reached a record €38 billion in 2023/24, and the Premier League is the single richest league in the sport at £6.8 billion in 2024/25. Real Madrid leads Deloitte's Money League with €1.16 billion in club revenue.
It ranks above the NFL because that scale repeats in dozens of countries at once. The NFL out-earns any single soccer league, but no other sport stacks that many profitable competitions — La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A, the Champions League, and the World Cup — on top of one another.
Primary market: Global · Richest league: Premier League (£6.8B) · Money driver: hundreds of leagues + the World Cup
- Richest single league
American football (NFL)
The NFL is the single richest league on earth, clearing more than $23 billion in revenue in its 2024-25 fiscal year, up 14.1% year over year. Its revenue-sharing model handed each of the 32 franchises about $416 million in national revenue, keeping even small-market clubs among the most valuable teams in sport.
It ranks below soccer only because it is essentially one country's league. US television rights drive the gap: NFL games top the ratings weekly, a single fixture is the most expensive broadcast property in sport, and the league is midway through an 11-year media package worth roughly $110 billion.
Primary market: USA · League revenue: $23B+ (2024-25) · Per-team national payout: ~$416M
- Top paycheck
Basketball (NBA)
The NBA trails the NFL in total revenue but pays its players more than any team sport — an average of about $10.3 million in 2024-25, with Stephen Curry topping the list near $55.8 million. The math is roster size: roughly half of league revenue splits among 15-man rosters instead of the NFL's 53, so the average paycheck ends up highest in sport.
It ranks above MLB because it grows faster and pays more. A new 11-year, $76 billion media deal averaging $6.9 billion a season began in 2025-26, and the league's following across China, Europe, and Africa gives it a runway few rivals match. Its dynasties, like the back-to-back NBA champions of recent eras, keep it a global TV draw.
Primary market: USA + global · Average salary: ~$10.3M (highest in team sport) · New media deal: $76B / 11 yrs
- Fastest riser
Cricket (IPL)
Cricket's wealth is concentrated in one property: the Indian Premier League, whose enterprise value rose 11.4% to $20.6 billion in 2026 (Houlihan Lokey). Franchise sales confirm the surge — Royal Challengers Bengaluru changed hands at a reported $1.78 billion valuation.
It ranks below the NBA because the money sits in a single league in a single country rather than a global economy. Even so, the IPL's 2023-27 media-rights deal is worth about $6.2 billion (₹48,390 crore), and on a per-match basis only the NFL commands more from broadcasters.
Primary market: India + global · IPL enterprise value: $20.6B (2026) · Media deal: ~$6.2B (2023-27)
- Legacy money
Baseball (MLB)
Baseball's wealth is built on volume: an 81-game home schedule, large rosters, and decades of national plus local broadcast money. That base makes it the second-highest-paying team sport, with an average salary that hit a record $5.34 million on 2025 Opening Day.
It ranks below the IPL because its television reach is largely domestic and its blockbuster global deals are fewer. Guaranteed veteran contracts keep the top of the pay scale high, but a lower ceiling on international rights caps how far MLB's total money can climb.
Primary market: USA · Average salary: record $5.34M (2025 Opening Day) · Money driver: legacy national + local TV
- Growth engine
Formula 1
Formula 1 revenue climbed 14% to about $3.87 billion in 2025, a fifth straight record year under Liberty Media, with team payouts rising to $1.4 billion. Sponsorship topped 20% of primary revenue for the first time, helped by new partners including LVMH brands Louis Vuitton and TAG Heuer.
It ranks here because absolute revenue still trails the big leagues even as growth outpaces them. Netflix's Drive to Survive widened the audience — 2025 live viewership rose 21% — and rising race-hosting fees have pushed team valuations sharply higher.
Primary market: Global · 2025 revenue: ~$3.87B (up 14%) · Team payouts: $1.4B
- Money in flux
Golf (PGA Tour / LIV)
Golf's money swelled after Strategic Sports Group agreed to invest up to $3 billion (an initial $1.5 billion) into PGA Tour Enterprises in January 2024, handing players more than $1.5 billion in equity. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which bankrolls LIV Golf, keeps circling with its own multi-billion-dollar offers.
It ranks below Formula 1 because tour-level revenue is smaller and the money is fragmented across rival circuits rather than one unified league. Purses have jumped, but the sport's economics remain unsettled while the PGA Tour and PIF stay at odds.
Primary market: USA + global · Key money event: SSG's up-to-$3B investment (2024) · Wild card: PIF / LIV spending
- Event-driven
Tennis
Tennis moves real money through four Grand Slams that draw large gates and prize pools on every continent, plus season-long tours for men and women. Prize money and sponsorship keep climbing, and the sport's global calendar gives it reach most leagues envy.
It ranks last on this list because tennis has no franchise system, so there are no team valuations to bank, and earnings concentrate in a small elite of top players. The sport monetizes events and stars rather than a deep league economy, which caps its total footprint next to the team sports above. Its health and lifestyle pull — see the benefits of playing tennis — sustains a broad amateur base beneath the pros.
Primary market: Global · Money driver: four Grand Slams + tour prize money · Limit: no franchises to value
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- Soccer (association football)
- American football (NFL)
- Basketball (NBA)
- Cricket (IPL)
- Baseball (MLB)
- Formula 1
- Golf (PGA Tour / LIV)
- Tennis
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How we ranked the richest sports
“Richest” is not one number, so we picked a single, stated yardstick: the total money a sport moves worldwide. That blends four things most people conflate — league and event revenue, club and franchise valuations, media-rights value, and player pay — and weights them toward global scale.
The weighting is the key call. A sport whose money is spread across many countries (soccer) outranks one whose wealth sits almost entirely in a single national league (American football, baseball). It is a deliberate choice, and it is why the NFL — the single richest league on the planet — lands second rather than first.
The metrics that don’t agree
Each common metric produces a different winner, which is why headlines contradict each other:
- Single-league revenue — the NFL, at $23 billion-plus, with no real rival.
- Average player salary — the NBA, near $10.3 million, on the strength of small rosters.
- Total global market — soccer, once every league and the World Cup are stacked together.
- Fastest growth — Formula 1 and cricket’s IPL, both compounding double digits.
No single figure captures all four at once. A ranking that leans on one metric will always look “wrong” to someone leaning on another.
Average player salaries, by league
Pay does not track total revenue, because roster size changes the math. This is a different picture from the overall ranking above:
| League | Average player salary (approximate) |
|---|---|
| NBA | ~$10.3M (2024-25) — highest in team sport |
| MLB | ~$5.34M (2025 Opening Day record) |
| NHL | Upper-mid range |
| NFL | Mid-range — a 53-man roster dilutes the average |
| Premier League (soccer) | Varies widely by club and squad |
The NFL earns the most yet pays a middling average because it divides revenue across the largest rosters in major team sport.
What is reshaping sports wealth in 2026
The money map is moving faster than the rankings suggest. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund keeps rewiring golf, boxing, and football with multi-billion-dollar commitments. Private-equity and consortium money is flowing into cricket, with record IPL franchise sales in 2026. Streaming has become a core rights buyer rather than an add-on — Amazon now carries live games in both the NFL and the NBA’s new package. Documentaries such as F1’s Drive to Survive have turned niche audiences into paying global ones. Each lever is being pulled harder, and by more investors, than at any point in the industry’s history.
Frequently asked questions
What is the richest sport in the world?+
It depends on the yardstick. By total money moved worldwide, soccer leads, because its revenue is spread across hundreds of professional leagues plus the World Cup. By single-league revenue, American football wins outright: the NFL cleared more than $23 billion in its 2024-25 fiscal year, more than any other league on earth. Both answers are defensible, which is why rankings disagree — they are measuring different things.
Which sport pays its athletes the most on average?+
The NBA, at roughly $10.3 million per player in 2024-25. The reason is roster size, not just revenue: about half of league income is split among 15-man rosters, versus the NFL's 53-man squads, so each NBA share is far larger. MLB is second among team sports, with a record $5.34 million average on 2025 Opening Day, boosted by big guaranteed veteran contracts. The NFL sits mid-pack because its large rosters dilute the average.
Is soccer or American football richer?+
It splits by measure. The NFL is the single richest league by revenue, topping $23 billion, and no soccer league comes close on its own. But soccer generates far more money globally once the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, the Champions League, and the World Cup are combined. Soccer's worldwide spread gives it the largest total market of any sport, even though its wealth is not concentrated in one dominant league the way the NFL's is.
Why do different rankings name different richest sports?+
Because wealth has no single number. A ranking can measure league revenue, average player salary, club and franchise valuations, media-rights value, or total global market size — and each metric rewards a different sport. The NFL wins single-league revenue, the NBA wins pay, soccer wins global market, and the IPL and F1 win growth. Any honest list has to name its yardstick first, which is why two credible rankings can each crown a different sport.
Which sports are growing in wealth the fastest?+
Formula 1, cricket's IPL, and combat sports such as the UFC have posted the sharpest growth, driven by streaming, documentaries, and expanding audiences. F1 revenue rose 14% in 2025 to about $3.87 billion, and the IPL's enterprise value climbed to $20.6 billion in 2026. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has also poured billions into golf, boxing, and football since 2022, reshaping the economics of several sports at once.
How much of a sport's money comes from TV rights?+
For the biggest properties, television is the backbone. The NFL's roughly $110 billion, 11-year media package underpins its $23 billion revenue, and the NBA's new deal is worth $76 billion over 11 years. In F1, media rights and F1 TV made up about 31% of primary revenue in 2025. A single NFL game is the most expensive broadcast property in sport, with an IPL match second — evidence of how central rights fees are to modern sports wealth.
Sources
- SportsPro — NFL revenue cleared US$23bn for 2024 financial year
- Liberty Media 2025 Financial Results (Formula One Group)
- Houlihan Lokey — IPL Reaches US$20.6 Billion Valuation (2026)
- ESPNcricinfo — IPL 2023-27 media rights deal
- ESPN — NBA agrees to $76 billion media rights deals
- Deloitte Football Money League
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