Rafael Nadal might be uncertain about his tennis future, but what is certain is that he remains very popular and reliable for his sponsors. Like in 2023, the Spaniard featured again in the Forbes’ list of the top 10 highest-paid tennis athletes of 2024.
Incredibly, Nadal is only behind fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic in terms of off-court earnings. The 22-time Grand Slam champion sits at the third spot in that metric, having earned $23.3 million in the last 12 months. And that’s because he managed to bag $23 million out of that amount from his business and sponsorship deals.
That amount is $8 million more than what he made in 2023, a season in which he did not play any match after his second-round loss at the Australian Open. It shows that Nadal was missed by many and his absence only increased his hype and as a result, brand value.
Nadal remains the most popular tennis player in the world on Instagram, boasting more than 21 million followers. It doesn’t matter that he has played only 6 tournaments in the last 19 months. The one man who Nadal matched with this achievement, is none other than Roger Federer.
Federer too, in 2021 and 2022, despite not playing much tennis, managed to remain extremely well paid because of his off-court deals. That number was a whopping $90 million in 2021, even as he only won $600,000 in on-court appearances. In 2022, he replicated the exact same amount in earnings off court, without having played any tournament except the Laver Cup on his retirement.
Like Federer, Nadal too is extremely business-savvy. He has not only diversified his investments, but also managed to strike new deals. He joined the Swiss star to become Louis Vuitton’s new brand ambassador while confirming partnerships with the likes of IT giant Infosys and the Saudi Arabian Tennis Federation, which is reportedly paying him $750,000 in a 5-year deal.
Interestingly, Nadal also manages to maintain good relations with his long-time sponsors such as Kia Motors and Nike. Apart from these, the Spaniard remains favorable for a large amount of tennis fans in the world.
As a result, if there is any player who has transcended the sport after Federer, it is Nadal according to many. While many would debate that Djokovic is the greatest men’s player of all-time, it remains to be seen if the Serb would join his two biggest rivals should his on-court earnings dry up. In that case, his off-court earnings would determine his position in this Forbes list.
Interestingly, Djokovic is only $2 million ahead of Nadal in 2024 with $25 million in off-court earnings. Despite having an average 2024 season which has featured some shock losses and withdrawals, the Olympic gold medalist has played a fair amount of tennis to be at the second spot.
While Djokovic was the No.1 player in the Forbes 2023 list, it is Alcaraz who toppled him this year with a total of $42.3 million in earnings. Alcaraz seems to be following Nadal’s footsteps in almost every way possible as he bagged a whopping $32 million in just off-court earnings courtesy his deals with the likes of Louis Vuitton, Nike, BMW, Rolex and Calvin Klein among others.
