Kohli 7th on Forbes’ list of most valuable athletes

India captain Virat Kohli has been ranked in seventh place on Forbes’ list of 10 most valuable athletes in 2017, ahead of football superstar Lionel Messi.

Forbes calculates the brand value of an athlete by subtracting the average income of the top 10 athletes in the same sport from the total earnings of that athlete, excluding salary and bonus from their sport and all investment income.

Kohli’s brand value was valued at 14.5 million US Dollars with tennis icon Roger Federer in first place on the list with a brand value of $37.2m.

What was surprising though was Kohli being above Barcelona and Argentina legend Messi, who has, according to Forbes, a brand value of $13.5m and came in ninth place.

American basketball powerhouse Steph Curry is at number two on the list at $33.4m while recently retired sprint athlete, and eight-time Olympic gold medalist, Usain Bolt was third at $27m.

Real Madrid and Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo ($21.5m) and American golfer Phil Mickelson ($19.6m) round out the top five.

Forbes list of 10 most valuable athletes in 2017:

1 Roger Federer: $37.2m

2 LeBron James: $33.4m

3 Usain Bolt: $27m

4 Cristiano Ronaldo: $21.5m

5 Phil Mickelson: $19.6m

6 Tiger Woods: $16.6m

7 Virat Kohli: $14.5m

8 Rory McIlroy: $13.6m

9 Lionel Messi: $13.5m

10 Steph Curry: $13.4m

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