Dominating the sports endorsement arena, Nike leads with the most ambassadors, leaving Adidas and Puma in the distance. Despite the rise of new talents, veteran athletes continue to be the mainstay of brand affiliations.
Who are the most attractive athletes in the eyes of brands? In the top 5 is the British Formula1 driver Lewis Hamilton, leading the ranking. In second place is American gymnast Simone Biles, who drops one position compared to last year, when she was number one.
After Biles, the American rubgi player Ilona Maher and the also American basketball player Stephen Curry. In fifth place is soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. This is according to SportsPro’s annual ranking, 50 most marketable, which analyzes a total of 174 sports and evaluates 1,001 active athletes between September 2024 and the same month of 2025.
Completing the top 10 are Brazilian soccer player Neymar, basketball player Caitlin Clark, Lebron James, basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo and tennis player Coco Gauff. In this edition, twenty of the fifty athletes included in the final list are women. This proportion has decreased in relation to the last ranking, when there were 22.
Nike is crowned once again this year as the company with the most brand ambassadors in the sports market. Twenty of the fifty that complete the ranking sponsor it. Adidas is positioned as the second choice for athletes, seven of whom wear its brand, while only five remain with Puma. The ranking also mentions Lululemon, Athleta, Under Armour and New Balance.
As for the type of athletes who are the most successful, the majority are athletes who maintain a constant performance over the years. One example, in fact, is the leader of the ranking. Lewis Hamilton, in his forties, who made his Formula1 debut in 2007. They are considered by brands as low-risk options when it comes to investing.
Behind them are the rising stars, athletes under the age of 25 who show rapid growth both in their sports and in number of followers, and who maintain a strategy of interacting with their fans through social networks. In third place, the most desired by brands are those who have transcended sports and have become cultural icons.
Simon Biles drops one position in the ranking to the benefit of Lewis Hamilton
Soccer is the sport in which most of the selected athletes are involved, with a total of 18 sportsmen and women on the list. Basketball players are nine and tennis players, six. Gymnasts, there are four, while motor sports include three of its professionals.
The most common nationality among the fifty athletes most desired by brands is American: 17 of them are American. Seven are British, six are Brazilian and four are Spanish. Two of the athletes in the ranking are French, two are from India and two more are Polish.
The four Spanish athletes included in the ranking are Carlos Alcaraz, known for his large number of sponsors including Nike, Rolex, and BMW. Also Lamine Yamal, whose main sponsor is Adidas since last year, and Alexia Putellas, with Nike as sponsor. Finally, Dani Olmo, whose sponsor is Adidas, is included.
By age, the average is 28 years old, the same as in 2024. The longest-lived athletes are, at 40, the leader of the ranking, Lewis Hamilton, Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James. Seven others are over 35, and skateboarders Rayssa Leal and Sky Brown are the youngest, at 17.Raussa Leal is also positioned as the athlete who has risen the most this year, with a boost of 85 places since 2024, thanks to her TikTok and Youtube accounts.
