[Francis Cebedo]

We have a superstar in our midst. How much money will he get in 2006?

Top athletes in 2005 are:
Tiger Woods - $87 million
Michael Shumacher - $60 million
David Beckham - $32 million
Lance Armstrong - $28 million

You have to dominate your sport and you gotta look good since it's all about the endorsements. Boonen seems to have all that.

How much money do you think he's going to make this year and when he peaks?

This might be premature but it's nice to see a cyclist get rewarded.

Who are the other high paid cyclists? After Lance, I couldn't find any other data.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/53/Pay_1.html

francois

 

[atpjunkie]

those are just salary I think.

Schumacher (at least in his heyday) was making in the hundreds of millions a year, more than Tiger or LA.
cycling just isn't that big internationally.unless they can market Tom here,he'snever gonna pull that kind of dough. (which could make his move away from Postal a bad business decision)

 

[jenna1980]

Lance has done well financially, hopefully Boonen will too.
I love to see cyclist get the respect (and pay) they deserve. I just hope we don't end up with a Dennis Rodman cyclist. I'm sure Boonen won't let success go to his head.

 

[Spunout]

I would bet some second-string shortstop on the Yankees will make more money than Boonen.

 

[Francis Cebedo]

Schumacher (at least in his heyday) was making in the hundreds of millions a year, more than Tiger or LA.
cycling just isn't that big internationally.unless they can market Tom here,he'snever gonna pull that kind of dough. (which could make his move away from Postal a bad business decision)

That's not just salary. That includes endorsements.

From what I recall with Schumacher, his peak was about $90 million.

Cycling is big internationally. Very big. The money is there. Boonen will be a superstar and there will be a line of companies paying him to hoc their product.

Lance is interesting cause he went beyond cycling and became a pop star, hero, inspiration. That translates to huge endorsements with non-cycling companies.

 

[upstateSC-rider]

Lance has done well financially, hopefully Boonen will too.
I love to see cyclist get the respect (and pay) they deserve. I just hope we don't end up with a Dennis Rodman cyclist. I'm sure Boonen won't let success go to his head.

The day TB wears a wedding dress in a classic is the day I hang up my bike.

Lou.

 

[flying]

That's no
Cycling is big internationally. Very big. The money is there. Boonen will be a superstar and there will be a line of companies paying him to hoc their product.

On that note.........Did anyone notice the life sized poster ad that a lady was standing up of TB? It was during the OLN Flanders broadcast.
It looked like an ad for a sub sandwich or something large & long he was eating

 

[Argentius]

Yeah, those figures DEFINITELY include endorsements.

I think Lance's "Official" Disco salary was $4m or something, and Jan's is something like EUR 2.5 m.

Spunout's got it, I think.

 

[Pablo]

Not quite Rodman, but . . .

I just hope we don't end up with a Dennis Rodman cyclist. I'm sure Boonen won't let success go to his head.

If you took David Clinger's maori tatoo, Cipo's lifestyle, and a Gibo's mounth, we'd come pretty close.

 

[Run1stBike2nd]

He won't be starving anytime soon, but...

I'm sure Boonen's success will earn him a few more Euros, but he'll never be anywhere near the top of the list in the original post. He'll probably end up with a handful of small scale endorsement deals (a few hundred thousand here, maybe a million there), but he'll never land a mega-million dollar deal a la Tiger Woods or LeBron James.

On a side note, how did Michael Schumacher rake in $90 million a year at his peak? Are F1 purses large, does the series champion get a gigantic bonus, or is it all endorsement money? If it's endorsement money, what products did he endorse?

 

[Francis Cebedo]

I'm sure Boonen's success will earn him a few more Euros, but he'll never be anywhere near the top of the list in the original post. He'll probably end up with a handful of small scale endorsement deals (a few hundred thousand here, maybe a million there), but he'll never land a mega-million dollar deal a la Tiger Woods or LeBron James.

Boonen is certainly aware of his income potential and the heavy tax burden. Part of the reason he has left his Belgium residence is to avoid the taxes. It looks like it's one of the highest in the world. Anyone know what Monaco's is?

https://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php?aid=77
<img src="https://www.oecdobserver.org/images//1361.photo.jpg">

My guess is he'll make $10 million in 2006. If he wins Paris-Roubaix... $11 million. If he wins some stages in the TDF, $12-$14. If he beats Petacchi in a sprint, $15... and so on.

He seems like the total package. I wish him well.

francois

 

[Francis Cebedo]

"On a side note, how did Michael Schumacher rake in $90 million a year at his peak? Are F1 purses large, does the series champion get a gigantic bonus, or is it all endorsement money? If it's endorsement money, what products did he endorse?

http://www.forbes.com/2002/09/02/schumacher.html

It is the huge global popularity of Formula One racing that explains Schumacher's fat paychecks. It is the most widely watched regular sporting event, boasting a worldwide television audience of between 300 million and 400 million for each of its 17 Grand Prixes held at race tracks around the world, starting in Australia in March and finishing in Japan in October.

Schumacher's two-year contract with Ferrari, a division of the Italian automaker Fiat (nyse: FIA - news - people ), guarantees him $35 million a year. The rest comes from win bonuses, endorsements and merchandising. (He has sold 300,000 Schumi caps at $30 each.)

A German investment outfit inked an $8 million, three-year deal to have him wear a 4-inch ad on the baseball cap he wears before and after races. His bright red Ferrari team driving suit is emblazoned with the logos of such multinational brands as Philip Morris' (nyse: MO - news - people ) Marlboro cigarettes, Shell motor oil, Vodafone (nyse: VOD - news - people ) mobile telephony and FedEx (nyse: FDX - news - people ) package delivery."

 

[mquetel]

Boonen is certainly aware of his income potential and the heavy tax burden. Part of the reason he has left his Belgium residence is to avoid the taxes. It looks like it's one of the highest in the world. Anyone know what Monaco's is?

I thought the attractiveness of Monaco was that they levied NO income tax at all (there may be others such as property, VAT, etc.). Anyway, here is a link with more info: http://www.lowtax.net/lowtax/html/jmcpetx.html

 

[euro-trash]

My guess is he'll make $10 million in 2006. If he wins Paris-Roubaix... $11 million. If he wins some stages in the TDF, $12-$14. If he beats Petacchi in a sprint, $15... and so on.

francois

You are WAY OFF, he won't make close to half of that. Cyclists don't make golf/auto racing/basketball money (with the exception of texas trailer trash).

Boonen will likely make $2-3 million. Probably $1 million-1.5 in salary; other sources of revenue include endorcements, and appearance money ($20-50K per post-tour Kermese). He was paid well for going to Qatar.

 

[ultimobici]

Cycling is big internationally. Very big. The money is there. Boonen will be a superstar and there will be a line of companies paying him to hoc their product.

Even though cycling is one of the biggest sports in Europe, I think you'll find it lags way behind football in the salary/endorsement stakes.

Boonen is one of a select few cyclists who can earn big bucks. But compare his earning capacity to a footballer in the Premiership and he's not as highly bankable.

A regular player in the Premiership can rake in £50k a week, that's £2.6m a year. the bigger stars are on basic salaries of £5m a year, before any endorsement deals.

A ProTour team budget is not big enough to accommodate that level. I reckon Boonen is on €2m a year basic. Ullrich is enormous in Germany which is a big market. Boonen is in a similar position in Belgium. Big difference!

 

[rogger]

On that note.........Did anyone notice the life sized poster ad that a lady was standing up of TB? It was during the OLN Flanders broadcast.
It looked like an ad for a sub sandwich or something large & long he was eating

He has an endorsment contract for Fresty Fresh, a Belgian meat products company so that sub probably had some of "Tom's fav ham" on it. Also, French sport and leisure wear brand Le Coq Sportive, already sponsor to the QS team will launch a Tom Boonen collection. This is all small potatoes, but if he could get contracts for say, a popular brand of car.....

 

[Francis Cebedo]

You are WAY OFF, he won't make close to half of that. Cyclists don't make golf/auto racing/basketball money (with the exception of texas trailer trash).

Boonen will likely make $2-3 million. Probably $1 million-1.5 in salary; other sources of revenue include endorcements, and appearance money ($20-50K per post-tour Kermese). He was paid well for going to Qatar.

Yep, my numbers are optimistic. Interesting to learn that there is appearance money in cycling. Not quite Tiger Woods numbers but numbers nonetheless.

I think the endorsements can be huge though. There has to be dozens of companies waiting to pay him to endorse their products. He is the golden boy and almost perfect for endorsements in every way. All it takes is to land some car company or insurance empire to pay.

francois

 

[atpjunkie]

here's the difference

say the name Tom Boonen around your non cycling friends. (especially in America) they'll say "Who?". Say Tiger Woods around non Golfers or Michael Jordan around non hoopsters. That's the difference.The reason Lance made so much $ is because he got into the American Marketing machine that allowed him to transcend cycling. Tom will 'sell' amazingly in Belgium, well in Europe but I doubt we're gonna see much of him in the US and Asia. The Kid should get smart and do the Tour of langkawi or if really smart,work his track skills and do some Keirin in Japan.

 

[Run1stBike2nd]

Francois, thanks for the 4-1-1 on F1. It's the only major auto racing series that I don't follow very closely. I'm a NASCAR guy.

As others have stated, Boonen's endorsement potential will be limited due to the fact that Belgium is a small consumer market.

Armstrong's money-making ability is the exception rather than the rule for a cyclist. Were he lucky enough to have been a healthy guy & won the TDF, he wouldn't have had the same marketing appeal that he had as a result of his cancer survival. Also as atp stated, it doesn't hurt to be a citizen of the largest consumer market in the world.

 

[El Guapo]

Don't forget, Schumi can also use the Ferrari logo on ANY of his merchandise without paying any royalties and receives a small portion of the sale of ANY Ferrari merchandise.