ESPN posted its second annual World Fame 100 List on May 30. The list, essentially of the 100 most famous athletes on the planet, was developed through a formula created by Ben Alamar, ESPN’s director of analytics.
One of the main sources for data included endorsement deals, which is why you will not see any amateur athletes such as Katie Ledecky on the list. Additionally, all officially retired athletes, such as Michael Phelps, are also excluded. Phelps, however, was number 46 on ESPN’s World Fame 100 List in 2016.
Salary was not included in the data analysis because of variance between sports, but Google searches and social media followings were used. Input from ESPN journalists around the world was also considered. The full methodology for determining who made the list and in what order can be found here.
For the second year in a row, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lebron James and Lionel Messi claimed the top three spots on the list. The top women on the list included Ronda Rousey at 16, Serena Williams at 19, Maria Sharapova at 23 and Simone Biles at 48.
Photo Courtesy: @salto_coach Twitter
While soccer claimed the most spots on ESPN’s World Fame 100 list, swimming took two spots, with Ning Zetao taking the 66th ranking and Ryan Lochte coming in at number 67.
According to ESPN, Zetao has numerous sponsorship deals including Adidas, Skullcandy, FitBit China and De Beers China, but got kicked off the Chinese National Team because some of these were competitor sponsors to the team.
Despite this, he currently has more than 8 million followers on China’s Weibo website, and has a demanding social media presence based on his “good looks” and gold medal in the 100 freestyle at the 2015 World Championships. Zetao was the highest-ranked Chinese athlete on the list.
“Before the race, I didn’t even think about a medal, I just wanted to show my best. I have had dreams about gold medals, but when I touched the wall I didn’t realize I had it,” Zetao said following the race.
He failed to make the final of both the 50 and 100 freestyle in Rio.
Photo Courtesy: Dancing with the Stars
Lochte came in one spot behind, thriving off his 1.2 million Twitter followers and 970 thousand Instagram followers. His 12 Olympic medals, half gold, help as well.
ESPN also credits Lochte’s Rio scandal to his fame, as the series of events, followed by his 10-month suspension cost him endorsements but also skyrocketed his name in the search engines.
His performances for eight weeks on “Dancing with the Stars” also contributed to his status as the 67th most famous athlete in the world.
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