Highest-paid athletes of the World

Tiger Woods remains a sports’ highest paid athlete with an annual income two and a half times larger than his closest competitor. The world’s top golfer made $110 million during the past 12 months and is the best-paid sportsman for the eighth year.

Nike is by far Woods’ biggest benefactor with an annual payday of more than $30 million for the golfer. Woods profits from the success of the company’s golf division, and last year sales for Nike Golf hit a record $725 million. Woods’ most lucrative new endeavor is his golf course design business. Last year he announced plans for a third course to be built in Mexico. His other courses in Dubai and North Carolina are currently under construction.


Drop-offs from last year include boxer Floyd Mayweather (has not fought since December 2007), NFL players Ben Roethlisberger and Dwight Freeney (both made the 2008 list after inking contracts with big signing bonuses) and Formula One driver Fernando Alonso (just missed the cut).

The highest-ranking of the four newcomers to the list is boxer Manny Pacquiao who earned $40 million over the last year, tied for the sixth most. Pacquiao cemented his claim as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter with convincing knockouts of Oscar De La Hoya in December and Ricky Hatton in May. The two blockbuster fights garnered more than 2 million pay-per-view buys in the U.S. and earned Pac-Man $30 million combined.

Pacquiao’s massive popularity in his native Philippines is why companies like Nike and San Miguel beer have signed him to endorse their products. Pacquiao intends to use that popularity to run for political office when his ring career is over.

The 20 highest earners have a very international flavor with Pacquiao one of eight non-Americans on the list. Finnish Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen earned $45 million over the past year, tied for second on our list with hoop legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Right behind that trio is global icon David Beckham who earned $42 million playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy and AC Milan.

Watch Online NBA Finals: Orlando vs Lakers Game 4 Live Streaming

Watch NBA Finals live streaming online free. Magic vs Lakers game 4 this Thursday June 11, 2009, 9pm at Amy Arena. After the defeat of the LA Lakers against the Orlando Magic in Game 3 (108-104). The Amway Arena will be especially boisterous when the Orlando Magic host the Los Angeles Lakers for Game 4 of the NBA Finals 2009.

NBA Finals: Orlando Magic won Game 3 over Los Angeles Lakers

The Magic won its first game in two visits to the NBA Finals as Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis scored 21 points apiece in a 108-104 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 last night at Amway Arena to pull within 2-1 in this best-of-seven series.

The Orlando Magic shot 62.5 percent from the field tonight, and so they won–barely, but they still won. It’s safe to say they won’t shoot that well again in this series. Only seven times this entire season did a team shoot better than 62 percent from the floor, and it never happened against the Laker defense.



Game 4 is tomorrow night Thursday, June 11, 9pm at Amway Arena, and Game 5 -- now necessary -- also will be at Amway Arena on Sunday.

Watch Online NBA Finals: Orlando vs Lakers Game 3

Watch NBA Finals live streaming online free. Magic vs Lakers game 3 this Tuesday June 9, 2009, 9pm. After the defeat of the Orlando Magic against the LA Lakers in Game 2 (101-96). The Lakers head to Orlando up by 2-0 but will the Magic defend their home court or will the Lakers take a commanding 3-0 series lead? The Amway Arena will be especially boisterous when the Orlando Magic host the Los Angeles Lakers for Game 3 of the NBA Finals 2009.



Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu and all of the Magic players will have their work cut out for themselves and their hands full with Kobe Bryant and company coming to town.

NBA Finals: Lakers won Game 2 over Magic

Few days ago Lakers took game 1 and beat Magic, in game 2 it's lakers again with 101-96. Lakers won game 2 in overtime. Both teams tied at 88 all after 4th quarter.The NBA 2009 Finals standing after game 2 is 2-0 in favor of Lakers.

One team is trying to win for dominance and control, the other team is just trying to win to survive. The Los Angeles Lakers hold a 1-0 series lead against the Orlando Magic and are trying to make it 2-0 as they lead the Magic 40-35 at halftime of Game 2 of their best of seven series. The Lakers are making a balanced attack, with no one scoring in double digits. Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol lead the team in scoring with 7 points apiece, Kobe Bryant and Trevor Ariza have 6, and Derek Fisher and Andrew Bynum each have 5. The Magic on the other hand are hanging on the shoulders of one man, Rashard Lewis. Lewis has a game high 20 points at the half with no signs of letting up. Although this is a good sign for Rashard, this isn't exactly the best news for Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, as the next best scorer for the game is Dwight Howard with 4 points. Will Orlando be able to work it's Magic in the second half or will Kobe and the Lakers continue with their surge? More updates to come as the game progresses.

Orlando is now ahead by 3, 65-63 at the end of the third. Hedo Turkoglu and Dwight Howard have joined Rashard Lewis in double digit scoring with 17 and 10 respectively. Kobe Bryant leads the Lakers with 16 with Pau Gasol scoring 13. Can the Magic hang on or will the Lakers make a momentum changing run. We will know the answer to these in 12 minutes.

The game is all tied at 86 with 1:15 left in the fourth quarter. Amazing game between Rashard Lewis and Kobe Bryant.

At the end of 48 minutes, the game has not been decided yet. The game is tied at 88 and an extra 5 minutes coming up for the Lakers and Magic.

Watch Online NBA Finals: Orlando vs Lakers Game 2

Watch NBA Finals live free online stream Magic vs Lakers game 2 this sunday June 7, 2009, 8pm. After defeat of Orlando Magic against the LA Lakers in Game 1 (100-75), Game 2 must be a spectacle to watch as Orlando Magic is expected to bounce back after Kobe Bryant stunned them with a 40 point contribution. This is the Lakers series to lose at this point. If they win NBA Finals Game 2 we think the series is a wrap, the next game is the most important game for both the Magic and the Lakers so stay tuned.

Watch Online NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers vs Orlando Magic

You can watch the 2009 NBA Finals, Orlando Magics versus Los Angeles Lakers, online! Be the first to watch it here.


The schedule for the 2009 NBA Finals is set, and it doesn't include LeBron James. Will powerhouse Dwight Howard lead the Orlando Magic to their very first championship? Or will Kobe Bryant and the Lakers pull it off after missing out on the crown last season?
An Orlando Magic vs Los Angeles Lakers match-up will be a terrific NBA Finals series. These are the best two teams in the NBA today.

Orlando Magics wins over Cleveland Cavaliers Game 6

Orlando was able to play some of its best basketball in the series against the Cleveland Cavaliers and it showed in the final score, as the Magic defeated the Cavs, 103-90 , to advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history. Dwight Howard stepped up to the plate last night and played, arguably, the best game of his young NBA...

With their trademark inside/outside offensive attack working to perfection, the Orlando Magic easily dispatched the Cleveland Cavaliers, a game in which they never trailed.

Watch Online: Denver Nuggets Vs Los Angeles Lakers Western finals

A game that featured four technical fouls and 84 free throws overall.

The Lakers’ only lead was 1-0 on Bryant’s free throw 14 seconds in as Denver led for the final 46:46.

The Nuggets, who haven’t lost back-to-back home games all season, were coming off their first loss in the Mile High City since March 9. They knew they blew a golden opportunity 48 hours earlier by trying for the dagger and misfiring on 22 of 27 3-pointers.


The Nuggets are the first team with three players grabbing 13-plus boards in a playoff game since Utah in 1994 against Denver, but that game went double-overtime. … Denver is closer than it’s ever been to the finals. In their only other trips to the conference championship, the Nuggets trailed 3-1 to both Seattle in 1978 and the Lakers in 1985.
A dominating effort on the boards and a great performance by the bench helped the Nuggets overcome a below-par effort from an ailing ‘Melo on Monday night, when they raced past the Los Angeles Lakers 120-101, evening the Western Conference finals at two games apiece.

They did it with their star hobbled by a sprained ankle and slowed by a stomach virus that had him hugging the commode before tip-off and getting IVs at halftime.

Watch NBA Online: Game 4 Orlando Magics vs Cleveland Cavaliers

You can watch the NBA Game Orlando Magics versus Cleveland Cavaliers online! Be the first to watch it here.

With the Heavily favored Lebron James and the Cavs trailing by a game versus Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic, we are in for a clash. As the Cavaliers will seek to level the series two games apiece. Watch it here online!

Watch live video from Cavaliers vs Magic. on Justin.tv

Orlando Magic wins game 3 over Cleveland Cavaliers

Sunday's Game 3, they unleashed Slap-a-Superman in an attempt to frustrate Howard and send him to the free-throw line where he's more mortal than elsewhere on the court.Dwight Howard had kept his emotions sealed for an unnerving 48 hours. Howard needed redemption for the Orlando Magic and for himself.

The answer eventually arrived when Howard was unleashed and he breathed a bit of life into the Magic’s own postseason desires with a 99-89 victory against the Cavaliers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. With the win, the Magic again wrested into the driver’s seat in the best-of-seven series, taking a 2-1 edge.

After a subpar Game 2, of which he refused to watch the mind-boggling replays of James’s game-winning 3-pointer, and a short-stint first half Sunday, Howard responded with 10 points during a critical third-quarter run. Brow furrowed and jaw clenched, Howard’s post position grew deeper and deeper in the second half. On several possessions, he had Zydrunas Ilgauskas virtually pinned as a planted sequoia beneath the basket.

Howard ended with 24 points and 9 rebounds. He was not the dominating Howard, but his presence was felt, especially as Hedo Turkoglu misfired on his first eight field goals.

Soon after Turkoglu made his first field goal late in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers’ Anderson Varejao fouled out, sending Howard to the line with 2 minutes and 43 seconds remaining in the game. Howard made 1 of 2 foul shots, finishing with a semi-respectable 14 of 19 from the line.


He was part of a Magic contingent that shot 51 free throws. The Cavaliers, by contrast, attempted 35 — 24 from James — a discrepancy that Cleveland Coach Mike Brown bemoaned.

“That’s a whole heck of a lot of free throws to get there 51 times in a 48-minute game,” Brown said.

Brown departed the postgame news conference and Orlando Coach Stan Van Gundy picked up where Brown left off.


“LeBron James isn’t in foul trouble — which he never is — and Mo Williams isn’t in foul trouble,” Van Gundy said, adding that the Cavaliers were looking to send Howard to the line as part of their game plan. “Those 19 free throws, they wanted them to happen. We didn’t want any of his 24 free throws to happen.”

He meant James, who found himself at the line a lot, but missed two crucial free throws and committed a costly turnover down the stretch on an errant pass to Ilgauskas down the stretch, before Mickael Pietrus secured the game when he went up for an offensive rebound on a missed 3-pointer attempt by Turkoglu with a little more than a minute left.

James followed up his last-second dramatic shot in Game 2 with 41 hard-earned points. He found a lid over the basket from the outside and the long limbs of the Magic’s interior defenders as he drove. James had 18 of his points at the comfort of the free-throw line, and made only 2 of his 11 shots outside the paint.

It was neither poetic nor pretty. But its outcome was satisfying for the Magic and those of its fans in the crowd of 17,461 that alternated between hysteria and delirium as silver and blue confetti dropped from the rafters.

The elasticity of Howard and the Magic may prove to be their most redeeming asset.

With James’s last second 3-point shot in Game 2 seemingly on an endless loop through the mind and still on the tips of tongues, the Magic offered new food for thought.

Orlando is a rubber band team and on Sunday it snapped back.

“We were able to overcome the dagger from the other night,” Van Gundy said, with a tone of sarcasm.

While Howard helped secure the lead, it was the reserve Pietrus who helped Orlando keep it, hitting a couple of clutch buckets and draping himself around James on defense.

Pietrus scored 16 points off the bench, one of five Magic who finished in double digits.

Watch NBA Online: Orlando Magics vs Cleveland Cavaliers

You can watch the NBA Game Orlando Magics versus Cleveland Cavaliers online! Be the first to watch it online here. The series is tied at one game a piece. The Heavily favored Lebron James and the Cavs are in for another heartbreaking game versus Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magics.