Ranking of the richest Czech athletes: Satoranský is at the top

For the third time, basketball player Tomáš Satoranský tops the list of the most financially successful Czech athletes. Just like last year and the year before, he left behind a number of domestic football and hockey players this year, but this time probably for the last time, notes Forbes magazine, which compiles the list. The ranking in 2023 will probably bring more changes than the one for 2022.

Satoranský left America’s top basketball league, the NBA, this year and, after six years, is again going to sell his sporting qualities in Barcelona, ​​but as a result, he will lose the top position in the list of the richest athletes. Six hockey players and three football players were behind him in the top ten this year.

Satoranský’s national team colleague Jan Veselý, who will also wear the basketball jersey of Barcelona, ​​ranked 14th with an income of 75 million crowns. Among the twenty-five richest, in addition to male colleagues from ice and grass, tennis players Karolína Plíšková (68 million crowns) and Barbora Krejčíková (56 million crowns) were also placed.

In addition to royalties from contracts with their sports clubs, they also earn through sponsorship deals with big brands. This year, the Czech edition of Forbes magazine also took into account remuneration in the period from July 2021 to June 2022 when selecting the 25 best-paid athletes in the Czech Republic.

At the end of his career in the NBA, he changed three clubs, now he will settle in Barcelona. With an income of 242 million crowns a year, he is at the top of the list for the last time this year. In addition to basketball, he also contributed to this amount by partnering with Adidas clothing brands and Audi cars. Similar to some Czech hockey players, the best domestic basketball player limits sponsorship cooperation to a minimum and prefers to devote himself to children.

Hockey player Jakub Voráček plays again in the Columbus Blue Jackets jersey, where he once started in the overseas NHL. He has a contract signed for two more seasons. An income of 181 million crowns makes him the highest paid Czech hockey player and the second richest athlete in the Czech Republic. In the past year, he scored five goals in 79 games, where he collected 62 points – the overwhelming majority thanks to assists.

The hockey player playing for the Boston Bruins is one of the best scorers in the American NHL. He currently earns 170 million crowns. His contract in Boston will last another year, and the club intends to work with him for another eight years, which is the maximum. The contract extension should bring him about an additional ten million dollars a year.

The highest paid Czech football player takes 148 million crowns. Patrik Schick is the best Czech striker who, thanks to a new contract with the Bundesliga club Bayern Leverkusen, will probably move even higher in the rankings. At the same time, Schick became the face of the phone manufacturer Vivo.

He earns 129 million crowns in the San Jose Sharks hockey jersey, but in March he signed a new contract for the next eight years, which will earn him 65.1 million dollars (about 196 million crowns per year). The Californian team in Hertla is hoping to reverse its slump in results since the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals.

Palat has been a New Jersey Devils player since July. His previous team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, did not have enough funds to keep the Czech hockey player due to the salary cap system. In the new club, however, he will earn 30 million dollars in five years (145 million crowns per year). Now, with 126 million crowns, he is in sixth place in the list of the best-paid athletes in the Czech Republic.

Seventh in the ranking with 113 million crowns per season was Jakub Vrána, who plays on the ice of the overseas Detroit Red Wings, for which he netted 13 goals in 26 games. Next year, according to the contract, he will get even better by half a million dollars. He should move higher in the next ranking.

The London West Ham United midfielder has 112 million crowns in his account annually. He thus becomes the second highest paid footballer in the Czech Republic. However, the captain of the Czech national football team will not be lucky enough to play at the World Cup in Qatar this year, where the national team did not qualify.

He leaves his last hockey club Blackhawks with 95 million crowns. The Detroit Red Wings salary will now be sent to his account. However, this will provide him with 1.2 million dollars (29 million crowns) less than he received in the Chicago Blackhawks.

Premier League footballer Matěj Vydra completes the top ten with 85 million crowns. However, his future involvement at Burley is now uncertain.