Thanks to television rights and ticket sales, most of the popular sports events around the world make millions of dollars. This massive revenue enables them to pay their winners a hefty sum, as a prize money.
While in most of the events the prize money is distributed in terms of their performances, there are still some cash-rich tournaments like Formula 1, where the most of the prize given in terms of bonuses and the drivers are paid a certain salary by their teams.
Here is a list of the highest prize money received by the winners of various sports competitions.
 1. The Boxing Fights of The Century
Floyd Mayweather earned a stunning $180 million for his fight against Manny Pacquiao, in 2015’s “Fight of the Century.”
The term “fight of the century” was first used for the iconic bout between Md. Ali and Joe Frazier. Unlike other competitions, this event is not a recurring one. Over the years there have been only a handful of boxing bouts which are termed as the fight of the century.
 2. The UEFA Champions League
The winning team makes around 54 million dollars from the entire tournament.
Apart from this amount, the winning team also receives a hefty bonus from the market pool. This bonus can take the winning team’s earnings close to a billion dollars.
Any team that even qualifies for the competition gets $12 million.
3. The Super Bowl
All the 53 members of the winning squad receive around $102,000 each.
The event is often considered as one of the most valuable sports event brands. If you combine the total earnings of all the members of the winning team then you find that the team earns well over 50 million dollars.
4. The FIFA world Cup
The 2014 winning team got around 35 million dollars. While the runners-up received a hefty sum of around 25 million dollars.
It is one of the most watched sporting events in the world. Held after every 4 years, it is the most prestigious football tournament in the world. Most likely, there will be a rise in the prize money for the next tournament and the winner would get around 50 million dollars, which is almost 15 million dollars more than the current amount.
5. UEFA European Championship
This year’s winners Portugal are set to receive 25.5 million Euros.
In terms of prize money, this football tournament comes next only to the Champions League and FIFA World Cup. Each and every team that participates in this premier competition receives around 9 million USD.
6. The World Series Baseball
 The winning team gets around $22 million, which then equally divided among all the players of the team.
It is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball in the USA. The competition is held between the teams of the American League and the National league. It is undoubtedly one of the most important baseball events in the world.
7. UEFA Europa League
Although the money made by the winning team depends on a number of factors, still the winner of this elite competition receives around $15 million dollars.
This tournament is the second most prestigious competition for the European Clubs. The team that wins the competition gets a direct entry to the next year’s UEFA Champions league. It is this ticket to the Champions league which many clubs value more than the prize money.
8. The Fed Ex Cup
The Player who wins the cup receives around 10 million dollars.
Golf is often considered as a bourgeois sport and the prize money of this competition clearly shows why. This famous golf competition started in the year 2007.
It is the first golf tournament that introduced a playoff system. In terms of prize money this competition has left all the other golf competitions behind.
9. The World Series Poker
The winner of this annual event receives 8 million dollars.
This famous tournament started way back in the year 1970. There were just 7 entrants back then. Today, today more than 6000 people participate in this competition.
10. Dubai World Cup
The winner of this elite horse racing competition receives a hefty paycheck of 6 million dollars.
The Dubai World Cup is considered as the world’s richest horse racing competition. The total prize money of this competition is around 10 million dollars.
11. ICC Cricket World Cup
The winners of 2015 edition of the World Cup took home $3.97 million dollars while runners-up New Zealand won US $1.75 million.
The ICC Cricket World Cup is without any doubt is the most important cricket tournament. Held every 4 years it is also one of the most viewed sports competition in the world.
These mind-boggling figures prove that these events are more than just a game. No wonder that sports have become one of the most sought after professions in the world.