Who were the top-earning sportspeople of 2024?
These days many of the world’s biggest stars rely on lucrative sponsorship deals to pad their paypackets, but let’s leave those corporate deals in the boardroom and focus on where the action actually happens: Which sporting event paid its winner the most?
Is it The Masters? Is it the Indy 500? Perhaps the US Open?
It may surprise you to learn that one of the biggest winners of the year was Jonathan Tamayo, winner of the Main Event at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP). For finishing first in poker’s showpiece event, Tamayo picked up a check for $10,000,000.
Tamayo is not a household name; he has no signature sneaker deal, doesn’t promote a soda brand, isn’t on a Wheaties box. He doesn’t have a team behind him, wasn’t drafted out of college and doesn’t have a super-agent negotiating his contracts.
Heck, he doesn’t have a contract at all, he’s just a guy. A guy who happens to be great at the game of poker.
That’s what makes the WSOP Main Event such an incredible modern-day phenomenon. Where else could a prize this huge be won by anyone who decides to enter? Man or woman, young or old, amateur or pro; anyone is welcome to take their shot.
And this week, from July 2, it's back.
What is the WSOP?
Since 1970, the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas has been the place where the game’s legends are made and champions crowned. Remarkably, the $10,000 cost of entry to the WSOP Main Event has remained unchanged for 55 years, although the rising number of participants has ensured that prize money is still enough to rival — or even dwarf — that available in many major sports.
This growth has hit a new phase in recent years: In 2022 there were 8,663 entrants in the Main Event, 2023 saw 10,043 enter, and then last year set a new record with 10,112 players. In each of the past three years, the winner has received at least $10M in prize money.
What happened last year?
That record field of 10,112 contained everyone from complete amateurs to online whizzkids, and from professional poker grinders to Las Vegas locals. The total pool of prize money grew to $94 million, with the lion’s share going to those who would make the final table of nine.
They played daily for two weeks, as the blinds and antes kept rising, forcing players to continue building their stacks of chips or be eliminated from the tournament.
Eventually, only nine would remain, and each would instantly become a millionaire.
The money to be won rose with every elimination until just two players were left: longtime poker devotee Tamayo and Jordan Griff, a keen amateur with a day job and a baby on the way.
Tamayo took the title and the $10M top prize. For Griff, the quintessential plucky amateur, the runner-up prize was $6M.
How does this compare with other individual sports?
As we can see above, winning the WSOP Main Event in 2024 paid more than the two biggest golf prizes combined, with the prize money picked up by both J.J. Spaun at the US Open and Rory McIlroy at The Masters falling short of Tamayo’s $10M payday.
It also dwarfs the prize money won by Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejčíková, winners of the Wimbledon tennis championship, as well as the winners of the Indy 500, the Kentucky Derby and many, many other sporting prizes.
But aside from the amounts of money on offer, there’s an even bigger difference to note: Anyone can enter and win the WSOP Main Event.
There are no qualification rounds that must be passed, no worldwide ranking to achieve. You don’t need a thoroughbred horse, a fast car or an invitation to take part.
The WSOP is not only an opportunity to win one of the biggest cash prizes in the world but also one of the most democratic and open events you can be a part of.
How about team sports?
When you play major league sports, you get a major league salary. But of course there are still big prizes to be won for the teams that go all the way to the top of their sports.
How big? Again, not as big as the WSOP. Whether you’re a member of Team USA like Olympic sprinter Noah Lyles, a Super Bowl winner, a high-flyer in the NHL, cricket champion or soccer star, your competition winnings won’t rival those of the WSOP Main Event winner.
From team players to lone wolves, when it comes to competition winnings, the biggest prize in sport isn’t necessarily where you think it is.
What’s happening this year?
The 2025 World Series of Poker festival of tournaments is already up and running, with the Main Event starting on July 2.
The growth of recent years shows no signs of slowing down, and many are expecting a new record to be set once registration closes on July 7. The field could be even larger, prize money could be bigger, and predicting a winner remains as tricky as it always has been.
Who will take down one of the biggest prizes in sport? It could be almost anyone — even you.
What other event can you say that about?
