It's hard to imagine Roger Federer not being at the top of anything (though his ranking has begun to slip, sitting this week at No. 7). The Swiss has been named the top athlete brand in Forbes Fab 40, a list of the world's most valuable sports brands.
Federer has a brand value of $37 million a year, which is the amount by which endorsement income goes above the average endorsement income earned by the Top 10 earning athletes in the same sport within the past year. In simpler terms, brand value is how much the name of each athlete—completely by itself—contributes to earnings.
The 34-year-old is valued higher than LeBron James ($34 million), Tiger Woods ($23 million) and Cristiano Ronaldo ($19 million).
Back in September, the 17-time Grand Slam champion was also ranked No. 4 in Forbes Highest Paid Athletes 2016 list with $67.8 million (and he was the highest paid tennis player overall). So essentially, despite injuries and a shortened season, the sky is still very much blue in Switzerland.
Federer will return to the court at the beginning of the 2017 season.