Cowboys’ Dak Prescott Made More Money Than Lakers’ LeBron James This Year
Being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys has its perks, as Forbes has named Dak Prescott as being on the top-ten earners for athletes worldwide.
Despite a global pandemic, four athletes raked in more than $100 million in earnings over the past year, led by UFC star Conor McGregor.
In Forbes’ annual list of the highest-paid athletes, McGregor leads the way at $180 million, much of which the magazine notes comes from his sale of his majority stake in whiskey brand Proper No. Twelve. That sale helped him become just the third active athlete, after Roger Federer and Tiger Woods, to earn more than $70 million in one year from outside activities.
![Conor McGregor made an estimated $22 million in his return to the Octagon this past January, but raked in another $158 million in endorsements and investments over the past 12 months.]({"default":{"load":"default","w":"80","h":"51","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1gFpp2.img?h=514&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1884&y=730"},"size3column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"40","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1gFpp2.img?h=401&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1884&y=730"},"size2column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"40","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1gFpp2.img?h=401&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1884&y=730"}})
(McGregor made the top 10 once before, in 2018, after his pay-per-view fight against boxer Floyd Mayweather.)
Longtime soccer rivals Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo waged yet another spirited competition for second place with Messi coming out on top at $130 million. However, Ronaldo had the edge in off-field earnings, which accounted for $50 million of his $120 million total.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was the final member of the $100 million club, raking in a total of $107.5 million — due in large part to the $66 million signing bonus contained in his new four-year contract extension.
The NBA’s LeBron James, soccer’s Neymar and perennial favorite Federer all topped the $90 million mark. Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady and NBA All-Star Kevin Durant rounded out the top 10.
Forbes’ highest-paid athletes
(May 1, 2020 to May 1, 2021)
1. Conor McGregor (UFC) $180 million
2. Lionel Messi (soccer), $130 million
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer), $120 million
4. Dak Prescott (NFL), $107.5 million
5. LeBron James (NBA), $96.5 million
6. Neymar (soccer), $95 million
7. Roger Federer (tennis), $90 million
8. Lewis Hamilton (F1), $82 million
9. Tom Brady (NFL), $76 million
10. Kevin Durant (NBA), $75 million
Dallas Cowboys top the Forbes list of world’s most valuable franchises for sixth year in a row
The COVID-19 pandemic hurt businesses around the world. Not so for the world’s most recognizable sports teams.
The Dallas Cowboys again topped the Forbes list of the world’s most valuable sports franchises for the sixth year in a row, coming in at a value of $5.7 billion, ahead of the second-place New York Yankees ($5.25 billion). The New York Knicks ($5 billion), La Liga’s FC Barcelona ($4.76 billion) and Real Madrid ($4.75 billion) round out the top five.
But perhaps the most surprising finding from the Forbes analysis was that the average value of globe’s 50 most valuable sports teams jumped 9.9% from last year, even with just about every professional sports league suffering some sort of pause or shutdown because of the pandemic.
When compared to the average value from five years ago, that jump is even more pronounced, at 55%.
The NFL, thanks in part to its incredibly lucrative media rights television deals and consistent viewership, continued to reign in terms of value, with 26 teams appearing on the list. NBA teams and soccer clubs tied for second most at nine and MLB teams appeared six times.
In March, the NFL announced a new, 11-year broadcast deal that will reportedly net the league $10 billion a year.
American franchises that opened new stadiums also saw increased value through those venues, with the Los Angeles Rams (176% increase in year-over-year value), the Golden State Warriors (147%) and the Las Vegas Raiders (117%) benefitting most, according to Forbes.
The largest year-over-year increases, though, were shared by the New York Jets, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks, each of whom saw an 11% increase from last year.
Rounding out the top 10 of the world’s most valuable franchises were the Golden State Warriors ($4.7 billion), the Los Angeles Lakers ($4.6 billion), the New England Patriots ($4.4 billion), the New York Giants ($4.3 billion) and the Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich ($4.21 billion).
Dak Prescott
 Prescott with the Dallas Cowboys in 2017
|
|||||||||||||
| No. 4 – Dallas Cowboys | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | July 29, 1993 Sulphur, Louisiana |
||||||||||||
| Height: | 6Â ft 2Â in (1.88Â m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 235Â lb (107Â kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Haughton (Haughton, Louisiana) |
||||||||||||
| College: | Mississippi State | ||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2016Â / Round:Â 4Â / Pick:Â 135 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2020 | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||||||
Rayne Dakota Prescott (born July 29, 1993) is an American footballquarterback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Mississippi State Bulldogs and was selected by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Intended to serve as a backup in his rookie season, Prescott became the Cowboys’ starting quarterback after starter Tony Romo was injured in the preseason, and earned recognition during the year for his on-field success, which included helping the team clinch the top seed in their conference. Prescott set several rookie quarterback records and was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and also earned a Pro Bowl selection. His career passer rating of 97.3 currently ranks seventh all-time, tied with Tom Brady.
Records and honors
- Single game record for passing yards in the Orange Bowl (453)
- Single game record for passing attempts in the Orange Bowl (51, tied)
- Single game record for passing completions in the Orange Bowl (33, tied)
- Single game record for passing yards in the Belk Bowl (380)
- Single game record for total yards in the Belk Bowl (427)
- Single game record for touchdown passes in the Belk Bowl with (4, tied)
- 2016 Senior Bowl Most Outstanding Player
- 2015 Senior Class Award
- 2014 and 2015 Conerly Trophy
- 2015 Belk Bowl MVP
- 2013, 2014, and 2015 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll
- 2015 SEC Offensive Player of the Week (at Arkansas and vs. Kentucky)
- 2014 and 2015 First-team All-SEC (AP and Coaches)
- 2014 SEC Offensive Player of Week (at LSU, vs. Auburn, and vs. Vanderbilt)
- 2013 Liberty Bowl MVP
Career highlights and awards
- NFL Rookie of the Year (2016)
- Offensive Rookie of the Month – November 2016
- Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year winner (2016)
- 5× Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week
- 2× Pro Bowl (2016, 2018)
- 2× FedEx Air Player of the Week (2018)
- 2x NFC Offensive Player of the Week (Week 1, 2019, Week 11, 2019)
NFL records
In Week 6 of the 2016 season, Prescott, with 176 attempts, broke the record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception to start a career; a record previously held by Tom Brady at 162 attempts in 2000–2001. This is also the record for consecutive attempts without an interception by a rookie, having broken the record set by Carson Wentz at 134 earlier in 2016. Wentz and Prescott had been exchanging the rookie record after having broken the Chad Hutchinson record of 95 set in 2002.
Prescott finished his 2016 rookie regular season with a record 11 games with an over 100 NFL passer rating, breaking the rookie record of nine games set by Russell Wilson in 2012. He tied the Ben Roethlisberger 2004 rookie record of winning 13 games as a starter. His NFL passer rating of 104.9 broke Robert Griffin III‘s rookie record of 102.4 set in 2012. His 0.87% interception to attempts (459–4) broke the rookie record of 1.27% (393–5) set by Robert Griffin III. He threw 23 touchdowns and 4 interceptions for a touchdown to interception ratio of 5.75 breaking the previous rookie record of 4.00 (20 touchdowns and 5 interceptions) set by Robert Griffin III, and for a touchdown to interception differential of 19 breaking Russell Wilson’s rookie record of 16 (26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions). His 67.76% pass completion percentage broke the rookie record of 66.44% set by Ben Roethlisberger. In a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 18, 2016, Prescott, with an 88.9% completion percentage, broke the rookie single game record of 87.0% set by Mike Glennon in 2013.
Cowboys franchise records
- Most Completions (game): 42 (2018-12-09 PHI)
- Most Completions (rookie season): 311 (2016)
- Most Completions (game, as a rookie): 32 (2016-12-18 TB)
- Most Pass Attempts (rookie season): 459 (2016)
- Most Passing Yards (rookie season): 3,667 (2016)
- Most Passing Touchdowns (rookie season): 23 (2016)
- Best Passer Rating (rookie season): 104.9 (2016)
- Best Passer Rating (game, as a rookie): 148.3 (2016-12-26 DET)
- Most Yds/Pass Att (rookie season): 7.99 (2016)
- Most Pass Yds/Game (career): 245.6
- Most Pass Yds/Game (season): 306.6 (2019)
- Most Pass Yds/Game (rookie season): 229.2 (2016)
- Most 300+ yard passing games (rookie season): 3
- Completion Percentage (career): 65.8%
- Interception Percentage: (career: minimum 16 starts): 1.8%
- Interception Percentage: (season/rookie season): 0.9% (2016)
- Most sacks taken: (season) 56 (2016)
- Most 4th Quarter Comebacks (rookie season): 5 (2016)
- Most 4th Quarter Comebacks (season): 5 (2016, tied with Tony Romo in 2012)
