Naomi Osaka is the Highest Paid Female Athlete

5.26.20

Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka has been announced as the highest paid female athlete in the world, at the age of only twenty-two. Naomi is a professional tennis player, ranked number one overall by the Women’s Tennis Association. Her lists of accomplishments are quite long. She is the first player of Haitian or Asian descent to hold the top ranking in singles matches. She has five titles from the Women’s Tennis Association Tour. Now, she passes Serena Williams as the highest-paid female athlete ever, taking home $37 million in earnings this past year.

This is an incredible accomplishment for Naomi, and women overall. On the Forbes list of highest paid athletes including all genders, Naomi is ranked as the 29th highest ranked player, while Serena sits closely behind at spot number 33. A special moment for females in sport, as this is the first time since 2015 that two females have entered the Forbes Top 100 paid athletes chart.

Serena has held the number one spot for the past four years, but now Naomi has come for the crown. Her money comes from game winning prize money, as well as endorsements. Namoi is a Nike athlete, but signed a deal that allows her to make “patch deals,” meaning endorsements from other companies that are in no way competitors to Nike. In total, she has fifteen endorsements deals that are all in the seven digit numbers, bringing home the money.

Serena will always be an icon and a fan favorite for not just tennis lovers, but sports lovers around the world. Namoi is the new face. She is young and already has a global fan base. The youth will look up to Namoi, as she continues to look up to her idols, such as Serena.