A crash-course in foreign-exchange rates

By Jonah Freedman, SI.com

The foreigners are gaining fast. At a combined $581 million, this year's rundown of the top 20 highest-paid foreign athletes is the heftiest we've ever compiled, and an increase of one-third over the previous year. Why? Sure, soccer and Formula 1 -- the two most popular sports away from American shores -- are beginning to pay off as well, and in many cases better, than U.S.-based leagues. But the weakness of the American dollar has never been on better display in the sports world.

Twelve of the athletes on this year's list earn their paychecks from foreign-based leagues. The British pound has been strong for years, strengthening the earnings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lewis Hamilton, John Terry and Michael Ballack (as well as Fernando Alonso who, until recently, was part of the McLaren racing team). But the distortion really takes effect with the athletes who are paid in Euros, which have gained 15 percent on the American dollar over the past 12 months -- that's why the likes of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and MotoGP god Valentino Rossi have seen significant bumps.

In all, this year's International 20 features nine soccer players, three Formula 1 racers, three baseball players, two basketball players, two tennis players and one motorcycle racer. For the Fortunate 50 list of the top-earning American athletes, click here.

1

David Beckham

Los Angeles Galaxy (Soccer)
Great Britain

Last Year's Rank: 3

$48,200,000

2

Kimi Räikkönen

Auto Racing
Finland

Last Year's Rank: NR

$46,000,000

3

Ronaldinho

FC Barcelona (Soccer)
Brazil

Last Year's Rank: 2

$37,500,000

4

Lionel Messi

FC Barcelona (Soccer)
Argentina

Last Year's Rank: NR

$35,800,000

5

Roger Federer

Tennis
Switzerland

Last Year's Rank: 3

$35,130,620

6

Fernando Alonso

Auto Racing
Spain

Last Year's Rank: 1

$35,000,000

7

Valentino Rossi

Motor Sports
Italy

Last Year's Rank: 4

$34,000,000

8

Yao Ming

Houston Rockets (NBA)
China

Last Year's Rank: 6

$31,762,775

9

Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United (Soccer)
Portugal

Last Year's Rank: NR

$30,300,000

10

Ichiro Suzuki

Seattle Mariners (MLB)
Japan

Last Year's Rank: 7

$27,602,149

11

Lewis Hamilton

Auto Racing
Great Britain

Last Year's Rank: NR

$27,600,000

12

Thierry Henry

FC Barcelona (Soccer)
France

Last Year's Rank: 9

$26,100,000

13

Maria Sharapova

Tennis
Russia

Last Year's Rank: 8

$21,758,550

14

John Terry

Chelsea (Soccer)
Great Britain

Last Year's Rank: 19

$21,600,000

15

Michael Ballack

Chelsea (Soccer)
Germany

Last Year's Rank: 10

$21,500,000

16

Ronaldo

AC Milan (Soccer)
Brazil

Last Year's Rank: 7

$20,800,000

17

Johan Santana

New York Mets (MLB)
Venezuela

Last Year's Rank: NR

$20,750,000

18

Dirk Nowitzki

Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
Germany

Last Year's Rank: 13

$20,360,095

19

Kaká

AC Milan (Soccer)
Brazil

Last Year's Rank: NR

$20,100,000

20

Hideki Matsui

New York Yankees (MLB)
Japan

Last Year's Rank: 8

$19,000,000