Cristiano Ronaldo comes out on top in ESPN's list of top 100 most famous athletes of 2019
Cristiano Ronaldo has come out on top in ESPN’s list of the 100 most famous athletes in the world for 2019.
The Juventus superstar sits in first place, with basketball hero LeBron James in second, Lionel Messi third and Neymar fourth.
ESPN has devised their own formula to rank athletes, taking into account three factors: their search score, endorsement figure and social media following.
Search score is measured on how often their name was searched in Google.
And Ronaldo, who boasts the most Instagram followers in the world, is considered number one.
The 34-year-old has a search score of 100, endorsements of $37 million and a social following of 148 million.
The list also includes the French trio of Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, while Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil also makes the top 20.
The top 20
Check out the top 20 below.
20. Novak Djokovic | Tennis
Search score: 21
Endorsements: $22m
Social following: 8.5m
19. Mesut Ozil | Football
Search score: 15
Endorsements: $6.5m
Social following: 30.9m
18. Yuvraj Singh | Cricket
Search score: 1
Endorsements: $31m
Social following: 14.5m
17. Serena Williams | Tennis
Search score: 37
Endorsements: $18.11m
Social following: 10.8m
16. Antoine Griezmann | Football
Search score: 20
Endorsements: $23m
Social following: 22.6m
15. Khabib Nurmagomedov | MMA
Search score: 100
Endorsements: $3.9m
Social following: 13.4m
14. Kylian Mbappe | Football
Search score: 32
Endorsements: $18.87m
Social following: 23.5m
13. MS Dhoni | Cricket
Search score: 5
Endorsements: $28m
Social following: 20.5m
12. Paul Pogba | Football
Search score: 15
Endorsements: $32m
Social following: 30.7m
11. Kevin Durant | Basketball
Search score: 9
Endorsements: $32m
Social following: 17.4m
10. Tiger Woods | Golf
Search score: 20
Endorsements: $42m
Social following: 6.4m
9. Stephen Curry | Basketball
Search score: 12
Endorsements: $42m
Social following: 23m
8. Rafael Nadal | Tennis
Search score: 40
Endorsements: $29.3m
Social following: 15.6m
7. Virat Kohli | Cricket
Search score: 25
Endorsements: $20m
Social following: 37.1m
6. Roger Federer | Tennis
Search score: 23
Endorsements: $41.5m
Social following: 14.5m
5. Conor McGregor | MMA
Search score: 100
Endorsements: $15m
Social following: 29.7m
4. Neymar | Football
Search score: 55
Endorsements: $19m
Social following: 107.2m
3. Lionel Messi | Football
Search score: 54
Endorsements: $28m
Social following: 103.1m
2. LeBron James | Basketball
Search score: 47
Endorsements: $52m
Social following: 45.3m
1. Cristiano Ronaldo | Football
Search score: 100
Endorsements: $37m
Social following: 148m
One of the most successful people ever to play his sport, with a legacy already well established.
He’s got it pretty good, does Ronaldo.
His former teammate Sergio Ramos is 38th on the list, while Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah is 30th.
Click HERE to see ESPN’s entire list of the 100 most famous athletes in the world.