Lewis Hamilton named motorsport’s most sought-after athlete for the 12th time

Lewis Hamilton has been named motorsport’s best-selling athlete of 2024 in SportsPro’s annual list of the world’s 50 best-selling athletes (50mm).

This is the 12th time that Formula One’s most successful driver has topped the motorsport athlete rankings, having competed in all but one of the 15 annual editions of the 50MM.

The Briton is 11th overall, down from seventh in 2023, the first time he has fallen out of the top ten since 2021.

Hamilton, who will join iconic Formula One team Ferrari in 2025, has secured two major brand deals this year – LVMH group subsidiary Dior and online retail provider CFI.

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In other rankings, Max Verstappen is ranked second among all motorsport athletes. The Dutchman is ranked 31st overall but has particular strength with companies linked to his home country (Heineken and Viaplay) or personal interests (EA Sports).

Charles Leclerc rounds out the top three, taking 33rd place in the overall standings. The Monaco-based rider has shown a particular penchant for endorsement deals in recent months, securing partnerships with Puma, Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0% and Bang & Olufsen.

The McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri also made it into this year’s 50MM rankings in 37th and 46th place respectively. The five motorsports names on the 2024 list match the 2022 record, highlighting the upward trajectory of motorsports right now.

In the wider list of 150 athletes, there are six more motorsport entries who are simply left out, including Carlos Sainz (58th) and George Russell (63rd).

Just behind these more established contemporaries is Formula One Academy’s Bianca Bustamante in 64th place, highlighting the influence of an all-female racing platform. Bustamante is the most popular young driver in the European single-seater rankings.

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Other motorsport athletes included in the expanded list include production car driver Toni Breidinger (91st), Ferrari youth driver Oliver Bierman (101st) and MotoGP star Marc Marquez (117th).

No other motorsports series are represented in the rankings, meaning series like Nascar, IndyCar and Formula E are not included.

Ratings are calculated based on three key evaluation criteria: brand strength, total addressable market and economics. The 2024 rankings, produced in collaboration with NorthStar Solutions Group, feature an enhanced methodology and multi-faceted scoring model to provide the most comprehensive assessment of athlete competitiveness to date.

First, the entire sports ecosystem was compiled and distilled into 174 sports categories, from which a total pool of 1,006 athletes was obtained for further analysis (compared to a list of 993 athletes in 2023).

To be eligible for this year’s list, an athlete must have been active during the evaluation period from September 1, 2023 to September 1, 2024. The data was then narrowed down to a final list of up to 150 athletes from around the world who were active during the assessment period. .

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