American tennis player Coco Gauff leads the list with $34.4 million, with seven tennis players, one skier, one golfer, and one gymnast in the top ten • The interesting trend – most income comes from sponsorships rather than competition prizes
In recent years, there has been a significant change in women’s sports, especially regarding sponsorship income. Unlike men’s sports, where football and basketball lead, in women’s sports, other disciplines dominate the 2024 earnings table. American tennis player Coco Gauff leads the list with total earnings of $34.4 million, of which $25 million comes from sponsorships and $9.4 million from tournament prizes.
Polish player Iga Świątek stands in second place with $23.8 million ($15 million from sponsorships, $8.8 million from competitions), and Chinese skier Eileen Gu surprisingly takes third place with $22.1 million, with almost all her income ($22 million) coming from sponsorships.
Chinese tennis player Qinwen Zheng is in fourth place with $20.6 million, followed by Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka with $18.7 million. The second half of the top ten includes tennis players Naomi Osaka (Japan) and Emma Raducanu (Britain) with $12.9 million each, golfer Nelly Korda with $12.5 million, tennis player Venus Williams with $12.1 million, and gymnast Simone Biles with $11.2 million.
It’s particularly notable that most of the athletes’ income comes from sponsorships rather than competition prizes, indicating the rising popularity of women’s sports among major brands.