Who are the Richest Sports Stars from the Philippines?
Photo: From left Manny Pacquiao, Kiefer Ravena , Efren Bata Reyes, Brandon Vera, Terrence Romeo
All the recent talk about Kiefer Ravena’s salary got us thinking about money and sports or to be more precise, money and sports in the Philippines. We all know that Manny is at the top of the list with his career earnings, but who else is taking home a massive wage packet? Let’s take a look.
Terrence Romeo and June Mar Fajardo are the top earners in the PBA with both taking home around half a million pesos a month. Yes, that’s ₱500,000 a month. Now that’s a staggering amount of cash, but it still doesn’t make them the top earners.
If we head to the NFL in the U.S., we find two players that made it big: Jordan Norwood and Eugene Amano. Granted Norwood wasn’t born here (he was born in Hawaii), but he considers himself a full-fledged Filipino, and his career earnings of over $4 million USD mean that he has to be on this list. Manila-born Amano, however, made quite a bit more in his 9-year stint in the NFL. His contracts alone were worth over $25 million USD, and that doesn’t include endorsements.
Next, we have ONE Heavyweight Champion Brandon Michael Vera; although his link to the Philippines isn’t quite so strong. His father and stepmother are from here, but he spent his entire life in the States. But as the current champion, we’ll claim him along with bona fide Filipino fighter Eduard Folayang, the first man to beat Japanese legend Shinya Aoki in five years. These guys must be making serious money to be putting their bodies on the line like that, but unfortunately, their earnings are undisclosed, so we’re just assuming that they should be on the list.
Moving onto the green felt, we have the legend that is Efren “Bata” Reyes who tops the AZ Billiards all-time money list with earnings of over $2 million USD, and that’s not counting the money he made at exhibition matches or through endorsements. Dennis Orcollo is currently earning $1.1 million USD, but with Reyes eying retirement, there’s a good chance Orcollo may catch up with “Bata” yet.
Now, unfortunately, there aren’t many ladies from the Philippines that have made serious cash in their chosen sports, but Jennifer Rosales is one who certainly has. She is arguably the best golfer we have ever produced and has amassed LPGA-career earnings of almost $3 million USD.
As for soccer, with the PFL in its inaugural season and with a salary cap for each club, we can’t imagine too many soccer players making the rich list yet. But with the league enjoying success thus far, we reckon there’s a lot more to come from the guys on the pitch. We also expect that salary cap to change considerably in the coming years.
These stars are making serious money, but they still have a way to go before they catch up with the highest earning sports stars in men’s sports. However, the living legend that is Manny Pacquiao is already there. Throughout his glittering career in the ring, “Pac-Man” earned something close to $500 million USD. That’s a vast sum that seems unattainable for many, but we live in the hope that the current boxing prodigy Romero Duno can match Manny’s earnings and career success. And after signing up with Golden Boy Promotions, it’s looking like the young boxer just might have what it takes to go the distance and become the next people’s champion.
Have we missed anyone on the list? Do you think we’ll ever get a PBA star into the NBA? Or is the PFL where our next mega-rich athlete will come from? Let us know in the comments below.
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