The Largest Sports Contracts Ever

Contracts have always played an important role in sports and sports history. It’s an agreement between the club and the player. Based on these deals, the athletes play for a certain amount in the different teams. The contracts contain several significant and sometimes ridiculous points. Since sports have become one of the most popular and wealthiest industries, it’s not uncommon to offer huge amounts for them. We collected the largest sports contracts ever!

Patrick Mahomes Signed a Record Deal!

The Super-Bowl-winning Kansas City signed the 27-year-old Mahomes to a ten-year extension for a $45 million annual salary. It means that he will earn $450 million in a decade, which is one of the biggest contracts of all time. We should add that Mahomes still had two seasons left on his current contract, so including the extension, he has a contract valid for a total of 12 years, during which time he will receive $477.6 million if all goes well. 

However, they also thought about if something would happen. The contract also includes a $140 million injury insurance, so whatever happens to Mahomes on the field, he will definitely receive that much. The average salary of 45 million dollars per year is by far the highest salary in the NFL, until now, the record holder was Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson with 35 million per year, so Mahomes raised the bar considerably. 

Of course, there is a chance that Mahomes will not complete the next 12 years under the current conditions. They can even terminate the agreement, but it is even more likely that they will sign an extension with an even higher value within a couple of years. By the way, Patrick Mahomes is a Super Bowl winner, Super Bowl MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, NFL MVP, and now one of the highest-paid athletes in the world.

The Largest Sports Contracts Ever are in the MLB!

With a 12-year extension, Mike Trout will earn around 430 million dollars. Some sources claim it would be less, while some say it will be more. Including the bonuses, he will probably receive a few more million, but his annual salary will be around 35 million dollars.

Fernando Tatis Jr. has signed the longest, 14-year contract in the history of the MLB with the San Diego Padres, and during this time, he will get richer by 340 million dollars. Under the new deal, the 24-year-old player will earn $24.29 million per season. Manny Machado has a $300 million 10-year-long contract with the Padres, so a ten million dollar annual salary.

The longest contract before was for 13 years, signed by Giancarlo Stanton and the Miami Marlins in 2014 for $325 million. Mookie Betts signed a $365 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018. However, Aaron Judge signed up for nine years for $360 million, meaning he will earn $40 million per season.

Though Max Scherzer is currently the highest-paid baseball player in the MLB, receiving $130 million for three seasons, so 43 million dollars per year. These are just a few examples of MLB salaries. You can check out the whole list at online gambling sites in the US! 

The Biggest Salaries in the NFL

Denzel Ward has signed a new five-year contract with the Cleveland Browns in NFL. The 25-year-old cornerback, whose task is usually to guard the opponent’s best receiver, will earn $100.5 million according to the new agreement. He surpassed the record of Jalen Ramsey, the player of the champion Los Angeles Rams.

His contract includes a $20 million signing bonus, a $20 million annual salary, and a guaranteed 71 million dollars, surpassing the record of Marshon Lattimore, the defender of the New Orleans Saints, and his $58 million salary. Ward joined the Browns in the 2018 draft, and since then, he has become one of four cornerbacks with over ten interceptions and more than 60 pass deflections.

Deshaun Watson, the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns, earns more than double of that. He signed a 5-year contract with a $46 million annual salary. In addition, he received a $45 million signing bonus, and the $230 million contract is fully guaranteed. He is followed by Dak Prescott, who got the highest signing bonus in the history of the NFL with $66 million. Besides that, he agreed to a four-year contract for $160 million, so to a $40 million annual salary.

LeBron James’s Record Contract

At 37, LeBron James received a contract worth almost 100 million dollars. The Los Angeles Lakers extended the contract with the team and the league’s biggest star, LeBron James. According to the agreement, the now 38-year-old James agreed to play in the Lakers through the 2024-2025 season, with an option for one more year, and his salary will be 97.1 million dollars. In the final season of his previous contract, James earned $44.5 million. Though the contract may change since he broke the NBA’s all-time record. 

LeBron James scored 36 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder, so the Los Angeles Lakers star surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record for the most points in NBA history. The ticket prices for the record-breaking match skyrocketed, and some people paid more than $100,000 to see the historic moment on the spot.

However, an unknown bettor who predicted that James would not reach thirty-six points against the Thunder lost over $140,000. Luckily, the new record holder will play a few more times, so you can try to place better bets at 22Bet Sportsbook!

Ronaldo Signed One of the Largest Sports Contracts Ever!

Cristiano Ronaldo barely left Manchester United when he found himself a new team. The 37-year-old striker joined the Saudi Al-Nassr team on 1 January 2023, where he will earn nearly 75 million dollars per year. He was left out of the starting lineup of the Portuguese national team because of his behavior, so it seemed that none of the big clubs would accept the attitude of the star footballer. 

The entire football world was shocked by the news in December that Ronaldo had transferred to Al-Nassr, and by the amount, he signed there. He agreed to the largest sports contracts ever in football. No one has ever received such a big sum before. If you break down the numbers, he will earn approximately $7 per second, which sounds crazy. This amount doesn’t include the bonuses and other additional income like his social media posts.

The Wealthiest Athlete of Them All

Every year, Forbes publishes a list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, but none of them could compare to the wealthiest athlete ever. He did the most popular sport of the era, which was not something we are familiar with today.

An ancient Roman charioteer, Gaius Appuleius Diocles, won so much money that if he wanted to, he could have fed the people of Rome for a year. Diocles won 35.8 million sestertii as a driver, worth approximately 15 billion dollars today! Check out the other ancient Olympic Games and the most famous athletes when it all began!

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