The video highlights the release of Forbes' list of the highest-paid soccer players for 2024, featuring a discussion led by Forbes reporter Brittany Lewis and colleague Justin Birnbaum. The top 10 players are expected to earn a combined $983 million. Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list with massive earnings from both on-field and off-field sources, mainly thanks to his association with the Saudi Pro League. The strategic movements and earnings of other players like Lionel Messi and Neymar are also discussed, shedding light on how soccer leagues worldwide maneuver these lucrative deals.

Saudi Arabia's significant investment into soccer has transformed the financial landscape of the sport, driving up the earnings of top players. Players earn high revenues from lucrative contracts in leagues like the Saudi Pro League, yet Saudi's spending has seen recent cuts due to economic factors. These developments are analyzed in light of Saudi Arabia's efforts to diversify its economy beyond oil, looking at sports investments as a means to propel tourism and entertainment.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. mastermind [ˈmæstərˌmaɪnd] - (noun) - A person with outstanding intellect who plans and directs an ingenious and complex plan or enterprise. - Synonyms: (genius, architect, strategist)

Congratulations to you because you are the mastermind behind the list.

2. modest [ˈmɒdɪst] - (adjective) - Relatively moderate, limited, or small in size or amount. - Synonyms: (humble, moderate, restrained)

It's a modest 2% rise over the number we put out last year.

3. projected [prəˈʤɛktɪd] - (verb) - Estimated or forecasted based on present trends or data. - Synonyms: (estimated, forecasted, expected)

He topped the list with 285 million in projected total earnings

4. trajectory [trəˈʤɛktəri] - (noun) - The path or development over time of a process or sequence of events. - Synonyms: (path, course, progress)

He's had a really interesting trajectory.

5. revolution [ˌrɛvəˈluːʃən] - (noun) - A dramatic and wide-reaching change in conditions, attitudes, or operation. - Synonyms: (transformation, upheaval, change)

He's ushered in kind of a revolution in Miami.

6. diversify [daɪˈvɜːrsɪfaɪ] - (verb) - To make or become more varied; expand into a variety of parts or fields. - Synonyms: (variegate, branch out, expand)

They've wanted to diversify away more towards tourism, entertainment.

7. lucrative [ˈluːkrətɪv] - (adjective) - Producing a great deal of profit. - Synonyms: (profitable, rewarding, gainful)

What makes it now such a lucrative time to be a professional soccer player?

8. celebrity [səˈlɛbrɪti] - (noun) - A famous person, especially in entertainment or sports. - Synonyms: (famous person, star, public figure)

One of the things that's really bolstering the cases of these guys is just how much of a celebrity you are.

9. exposed [ɪkˈspoʊzd] - (verb) - Made something visible by uncovering it; revealed. - Synonyms: (revealed, uncovered, displayed)

But this has been a chance for him to really expose himself to the American audience.

10. macroeconomic [ˌmækroʊˌɛkəˈnɒmɪk] - (adjective) - Relating to the branch of economics concerned with large-scale or general economic factors. - Synonyms: (global economic, large-scale economic, overarching economic)

You can kind of look at macroeconomic reasons.

The World’s Highest-Paid Soccer Players 2024

Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a reporter here at Forbes. Joining me now is my colleague Justin Birnbaum, staff writer on the Sports Money team. Justin, thanks so much for coming. Thanks for having me, Brittany.

Forbes list of the world's highest paid soccer players for 2024 is out. So first, a big congratulations to you because you are the mastermind behind the list. But before we get to it, I want you to give us a number here. How much money did the world 10 highest paid soccer players make? So we're projecting that the 10 highest paid soccer players in the world are going to earn a combined 983 million for the upcoming 2425 season. It's a modest 2% rise over the number we put out last year. But the important thing to remember is this is just a massive elevation from the record a few years ago, which was around 650 million. So the numbers are way up in the last few years, and there's a couple interesting reasons behind that.

Well, we will get into those reasons behind that because it is flirting with a billion. I mean, that is huge. So who topped the list this year and where did their earnings come from? Yeah, so I don't think anybody is going to be surprised to hear this, but the highest paid soccer player in the world that we're projecting for the upcoming season is Cristiano Ronaldo. He topped the list with 285 million in projected total earnings. About 220 million of that comes on the field from this massive deal. He has to play in the Saudi Pro League or with his Saudi Pro League club, Al Nassr, and he earns, we estimate, 65 million off the field.

So Ronaldo tops it again. It's the second year in a row, the sixth time in the last decade. He's a global figure still, Even though he's 39 years old, a very productive player on the pitch. Financially. No one compares to Ronaldo on this list. But move down a bit for us. Go through the top five. Aside from him, who are they?

Yeah. So coming in at number two is Lionel Messi, his longtime rival. On the other side of the greatest of all time debate, we have him at 135 million in projected total earnings. He's obviously playing for Inter Miami over Major League Soccer now at number three and number four, you have a pair of guys playing in the Saudi pro league. The first is Neymar, who we have at $110 million in projected total earnings. And then Karim Benzema, who is 104 million projected total earnings.

And then at number five, a former number one of the list is Kylian Mbappe, who now plays in Real Madri. We have him at $90 million in total earnings. You broke down the list in a really interesting way. You break down what the players make on the field and what they make off the field. So who is the player who makes the top amount of money off the field? So that would be Lionel Messi. We estimate that he's at $75 million annually off the field.

And, you know, he's had a really interesting trajectory. He's obviously, you know, an incredibly, incredibly great player. He's in the grace of all time debate. You know, he's won a trophy case full of Ballon d'ors. You know, given to the, you know, soccer player every year. He's had a lot of success in the last few years. He won the World cup, he won the Copa America again, the second time in his career with Argentina. Both Argentina.

And this move that he made to the US in July of 2023 has really supercharged him as well. Obviously he was a very global figure. He was popular in South America, popular in Europe. But this has been a chance for him to really expose himself to the American audience. And he's ushered in kind of a revolution in Miami. It's changed the trajectory of Major League Soccer and a lot of people are optimistic that it's going to keep going and going.

So aside from Major Leagues Soccer, what other leagues around the world are represented on this year's list? So the Saudi Pro League claims the most spots with four players. We mentioned Ronaldo. There's also Saudi Armane, Karim, Benzema and Neymar. The Premier League, the English Premier League has three players on the list with Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah.

Then La Liga in Spain has two, but they're both on the same club, which is why I hesitated there for a second, because I almost said Real Madrid first. And that's Kylian, Mbappe and Vinicius Junior. And then Messi is the lone representative from Major League Soccer. So talk a little bit about how Saudi Arabia's push into soccer affects the money flowing into the sport. Yeah. So last year, starting with Ronaldo, who agreed to go to Saudi in December and then eventually joined the club in January of last year, we saw this major push of the Saudi Pro league bringing players over last year during the summer transfer window, they spent roughly a billion dollars on new player acquisitions, which is just an insane number for a country that was hardly a soccer Power before this.

It's been an interesting step for them because obviously they're an economy that's been so tied up in oil and other things, and they've wanted to diversify away more towards tourism, entertainment. And investing in their soccer league was a way of doing that. We saw a similar thing in golf as well, with the LIV Golf league and how they were doing that. They've also made entrances in boxing and other sports as well. Esports is another one, too, where they're big.

So they were kind of doing this thing where they were diversifying and investing in these players. They brought over a ton of stars. They brought over Ronaldo, they brought over Neymar, they brought over Benzema. And with the amount of money they weren't just paying for these players, but what they were paying to the players, it dwarfs many of the figures we see in other leagues across the sport. So that's kind of the obvious reason why you see so many Saudi players on this list is because last year, you know, these guys signed these massive contracts and they're still paying.

So your list shows that they are. Saudi Arabia is investing hundreds of millions into their players, but your story says that they've slowed their investment a bit. So why is that? So you can kind of look at macroeconomic reasons. And for one, you know, the price of oil is languishing a little bit. And also, you know, Saudi Arabia has committed to a lot of these mega projects that are going to cost billions and billions of dollars. And even for their $925 billion sovereign wealth fund that's left them, you know, cash strapped to a de. But the reality is they've kind of come back down to earth, I think. I believe transfer spending this summer was somewhere between 500 and 600 million.

I had the exact number in the story. It was, I think, 524, if I remember correctly. But in reality, they're just not going to sign the best players every summer. I know, like, there were reports, you know, where a spokesman had said something to that effect. But also, you know, they haven't necessarily seen massive changes from the investments they've made. You know, one of the sources I talked to had said, you know, they're not seeing this attendance bump that they expected when they brought over all these stars. They've seen interest in other different things, but it hasn't directly translated.

So, you know, they can't spend like this forever. You know, obviously there's going to be a point where the investments they make are going to have to pay off and Also, it's not just getting star players. They have to develop the infrastructure of the league, the young talent of the league. You know, they have to export their own stars as well. So it's kind of a balance of those things. And you know, it's hard to say. I mean, obviously Saudi Arabia has put a lot into this project and want to be, be competitive in global soccer.

So for all we know, they could ramp up the spending again. And obviously, like when Mohamed Salah, you know, his contract in Liverpool ends, he's from Egypt, you know, he's got ties to the Middle East. He's someone who could be a very expensive and lucrative target for them. So it's possible that, you know, they could ramp back up again. But, you know, for all those reasons, we've seen it come down.

Based on your reporting, it sounds like it's a good time to be a professional soccer player. The highest paid players in the world are making a combined almost billion dollars together. So what makes it now such a lucrative time to be a professional soccer player? Well, for one, there's a lot more money flowing into sports than there were years ago. And part of that's driven by broadcast rights, other new revenue streams that are popping up. But also, I think one of the things that's really bolstering the cases of these guys is just how much of a celebrity you are when you're on the global soccer scene.

Ronaldo has almost a billion followers between Instagram, Facebook and X, formerly Twitter. And he recently started a YouTube channel and he got to a million subscribers in 90 minutes, which set a record. And now he's got over 500 million views on a very small amount of videos, relatively speaking, and 65 million followers or so. But you see just how valuable these guys are with their audiences. Messi has 500 million Instagram followers. You know, you see him on, you go down to Miami, you see him on every billboard, you know, or so.

So these guys have massive platforms, they can earn massive money off the field, on the field. You know, their clubs are making more and more and more in certain cases. I mean, the Premier League has a great, you know, media rights deal that extends out to the US too, in addition to their domestic rights deal. So there's more money flowing in. And you know, the one caveat I should mention is that, you know, there are financial fair play rules where you can only spend relative to what you make. So as long as these clubs keep finding way to ways to make more money, you'll be able to spend more money. So yeah. Dustin Birnbaum. I appreciate the reporting. Thanks so much for coming in. Thanks for having me.

Economics, Global, Sports, Cristiano Ronaldo, Forbes List, Soccer, Forbes