Steph Gilmore is the highest paid woman in Australian Sport

By Lucas Townsend

Mick Fanning and Steph Gilmore have made the Business Review Weekly’s top 50 earners in Australian sport.

While NBA basketballer Andrew Bogut smoked the earnings with a $16.2m salary, Steph took the highest earning honours for all women in Australian sport with a breezy $1.75m per annum (or, just under $5k daily) – a fact you might’ve already learnt from Stab’s 2014 Women’s Rich List. Steph landed at 38th on the overall list. Fanning landed at 19th on the list with $2.7m, and remains the highest paid surfer in Aus.

2015 is a million-dollar year for Loz Enever. Photo: Baccon

Steph’s earnings excludes a hefty world title bonus. But with her Roxy deal (roughly $1m), contracts with Sanitarium and Nikon (rumoured to be north of $250k apiece), and Ford wheels ($100k ambassador fee), it’s no wonder the big-monied darling sits at 38th spot on the BRW list. She’s a sophisticated and marquee surfer who, rightfully so, is cashing in on the non-endemics.

It’s a promising state of affairs for women’s surfing (and surfing in general), when young girls no longer need to look to golf or tennis for a sporting future that pays. According to BRW, Sally Fitzgibbons just missed the list on $1.25m. But, that price will head south this year since cutting $500k-plus ties with Roxy. Both Tyler Wright and Laura Enever are also expected to swing into the millionaires lounge in 2015. And remember, these numbers don’t include prize money, a cash pool that’s been heavily topped up since ZoSea took over the WSL (formerly ASP) and levelled the women’s tour with the mens at 10 events.

Mick has some of surfing’s most synonymous sponsorship deals. See, Mick’s all pushups and dips and tabata training, and his sponsors reflect his athleticism.

Rip Curl own his wardrobe and his hat (v expensive property, this), there’s a $350k Red Bull rail deal, Skullcandy headphones, Dragon sunglasses, Vertra sunscreen, Audi horsepower, Creatures of Leisure accessories, FCS fins and DHD surfboards. But, the smartest investment Mick’s ever made was with Reef. His signature sandals with the bottle-opener on the sole has been one of the brand’s most commercially successful products. It’s also one of the fabled stories of retail mistakes. See the thing was, Reef didn’t think the thong would connect. At all. That’s why they agreed to a monstrous royalty deal with MF.

Who would’a thought, a thong with a bottle opener on the sole? Mick Fanning. GENIUS. Photo: Muirhead

Julian Wilson was number 30 on the list with his $2m salary from sponsors Hurley, Red Bull and Oakley. Joel Parkinson became an icon when he won his 2012 world title and that’s why he’s still able to pull $1.8m in deals with Billabong, Kustom, VZ and JS surfboards, and landed at 34th on the BRW list. TB took a heavy salary cut during Billabong’s 2012 share price melt. But deals with Globe, FCS and Nanotune put him at number 41, tied with Josh Kerr (Rusty & Arnette) on $1.5 million.

There’s a lesson here, kids. Something about surfing lots and getting rich.