Forbes says 19 of top 100 celebrities from sports
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Tiger Woods of the U.S. hits his tee shot during second round play in the 2011 Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, April 8, 2011. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
Tiger Woods has not finished a tournament atop the leaderboard in 18 months. Nonetheless, Forbes says the world's former No 1 golfer remains the biggest celebrity in the sports world.
Woods is No 6 on Forbes' annual "Celebrity 100" compilation of the most powerful people or groups in the entertainment business, the highest rank of any of the 19 athletes who made the list. Miami Heat star LeBron James is 10th, up 18 spots from a year ago, and the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant was at No 14 for the second straight year.
Lady Gaga tops Forbes' overall rankings, followed by Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber, U2 and Elton John.
Woods will fall out of the top 10 in golf's world rankings next week, the first time he'll be 11th or lower since 1997. His last tournament win was at the 2009 Australian Masters.
His star power apparently remains nearly as bright as ever.
Woods was No 5 on Forbes' list in 2010, when the magazine estimated his annual earnings at $105 million - $30 million less than what it figured him to make over the most recent 12-month period. Even after taking major endorsement hits following the scandal that ended his marriage, Woods still made $22 million more than Bryant in the past year, Forbes said.
Forbes listed James' earnings at $48 million, up $5 million from the previous year, and ranked him No 2 behind only Winfrey in terms of media visibility. Forbes said its formula includes pretax income for the year ending May 1, media visibility and social media power through Facebook and Twitter.
Tennis star Roger Federer was 25th on the list, placing him fourth among athletes.
The Heat had two of the top 100, with Dwyane Wade (No 57) joining James. And the New York Yankees also had two mentions, with Alex Rodriguez at No 49 and Derek Jeter at No 69, tying him with actress Julia Roberts.
Other sports figures on the list: David Beckham and Phil Mickelson (tied at No 35), Cristiano Ronaldo (No 43), Rafael Nadal (No 46), Tom Brady (No 55), Dwight Howard (No 59), Lionel Messi (No 62), Peyton Manning (No 72), Maria Sharapova (No 80), Serena Williams (No 84), Venus Williams (No 86) and Danica Patrick (No 96).
Combined, Forbes said the 19 athletes on the list this year earned $647 million.
Among those from the sports world who were ranked in 2010 but fell off the most recent Forbes celebrity list were Michael Jordan (20th in 2010), Floyd Mayweather (31st), Shaquille O'Neal (52nd), Manny Pacquiao (55th) and Lance Armstrong (65th).
