SportsPro Names Aryna Sabalenka Its Most Marketable Athlete for 2026

Aryna Sabalenka has been named the world’s most marketable athlete in SportsPro’s published 2026 ranking, placing the tennis player first in a commercial assessment that extends across sports. The 17th annual list is produced with NorthStar Solutions Group and evaluates more than competitive results.

The selection puts Sabalenka alongside previous list leaders including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lewis Hamilton, Naomi Osaka and Eugenie Bouchard, Yasmin Syed reported. Sabalenka finished ahead of athletes including Erling Haaland and Charles Leclerc, as well as tennis players Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev.

The ranking uses a 100-point NorthStar Marketability Score. Brand equity accounts for 45 points, momentum for 40 and commercial trajectory for 15, according to SportsPro’s BlackBook Motorsport explanation. Those categories are intended to assess the athlete’s established brand, current attention and scope for future commercial value.

The 2026 assessment considered an initial pool of 1,202 athletes across 70 sports, with 247 receiving a full assessment to determine the final ranking. The model uses 27 marketability drivers, several hundred data points per athlete and more than 3,000 brand partnership records.

Its evidence window ran from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. That cutoff matters when reading the result: an annual commercial ranking is not a live table that changes after every match, endorsement announcement or social-media post.

Leclerc placed ninth overall and led the motorsport athletes. Lewis Hamilton ranked 22nd and Max Verstappen 48th, giving Formula One three representatives in the top 50. Their inclusion provides one indication of the list’s breadth beyond tennis.

SportsPro’s selection should be attributed as its own ranking, rather than presented as a measured earnings championship. Marketability, endorsement income and prize money answer different questions. Sabalenka’s first-place finish reflects the published assessment model; it does not, by itself, establish that she earned more than every other athlete.