Following Danny Lee’s massive payday in Tucson this week, Cameron McMillan looks at the big-money earners in the history of New Zealand sport.
1) Joseph Parker (boxing) - NZ$10m-$12m
The actual payday has never been revealed but it’s been reported that Parker cracked eight figures for the heavyweightclash with Anthony Joshua in Cardiff, 2018. Parker went into the fight as the WBO title holder and came up against the WBA (Super), IBF, and IBO heavyweight champion - losing by unanimous decision. An audience of 78,000 were in attendance at Principality Stadium (gate takings of $10.4m) while the pay-per-view alone grossed US$40m.
With reports floating about that the Kiwi got $25m for the fight, the same as Joshua, boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said on Twitter ‘Cut in half and it’s still too much’ in terms of Parker’s takehome pay for the defeat.
Joseph Parker (left) and Anthony Joshua in the ring. Photo / Dean Purcell.
The Kiwi heavyweight was paid handsomely when he contested for the WBC, IBF and IBO titles against Lennox Lewis in Las Vegas, 2000. Like Parker, Tua went the distance against the Brit but lost by unanimous decision. Tua earned a reported US$4m for the fight - a time when the NZD was at a historical low against the mighty Greenback - meaning he took home more than NZ$10m for the fight.
3) Danny Lee (golf) - NZ$6.3m
The world number 267 (up one spot this week) really cashed in with his second start on the LIV Tour. This season on the PGA Tour his biggest payday was US$134,000 for a share of 16th at the American Express tournament - having amassed US$316,795 across 11 tournaments. The US$4m win at the LIV Golf Tucson event is the biggest in terms of prize money by a Kiwi golfer. His 215 total shots over the three days, including the playoff, means he earned $29,674 per swing of the club (not including practice swings). Asked in the press conference afterwards how life-changing the win is Lee responded: “I mean, it wouldn’t change my life.” With 11 more tournaments to go in the LIV season and the same prizemoney on offer each time, Lee could be on to quite a nice earner courtesy of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
The IndyCar great won the famous Indy500 event in 2008 which came with a US$2,988,065 cheque, and a bottle of milk. He’s had pole position four times since but hasn’t been able to collect a second victory at the Brickyard. The prize money changes every year and has dropped considerably since 2008 but if Dixon did win it again this year, after sitting pole the last two years, he could take home around US$1.8m-2m.
5) Lydia Ko (golf) - NZ$3.25m
Ko’s had many big wins in her career, including two major titles, but the biggest in terms of prize money came last year when she won the Tour Championship title for a second time. In doing so she claimed the richest prize in women’s golf at US$2 million which allowed her to win LPGA player of the year. Ko is nearing the NZ$30m mark for her career in prize money alone.
Lydia Ko poses with CME Group CEO Terry Duffy and the winner's cheque. Photo / Getty
6) Michael Campbell (golf) - NZ$2.57m
Campbell had one heck of a year in 2005 winning the US Open and then the HSBC World Match Play Championship which came with a £1,000,000 cheque - at the time the richest prize in golf. Campbell defeated Ireland’s Paul McGinley 2 and 1 in the final after getting by the top seed Retief Goosen in the semifinal. His US Open win at Pinehurst no2 a few months earlier came with a payday of US$1.17 million (NZ$1.65m).
7) Craig Perks (golf) - NZ$2.49m
Perks was ranked 203 in the world when he stunned the field to win The Players Championship in 2002, regarded as golf’s fifth major. Perks went eagle-birdie-par to finish the tournament including a chip-in from thick greenside rough on the final hole. It was the richest payoff on the PGA Tour at the time - US$1,080,000. He even got plaudits from Tiger Woods. “You’re unbelievable,” Woods said. “Absolutely unbelievable.”
Since joining the NBA in 2013, the Kiwi centre has earned more than US$128.8m with a salary of US$17.9m this year for the Memphis Grizzlies. At his peak, he was on US$29m a year for the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2020-21 season - roughly $NZ40.5m.
Chris Wood (football)
The All Whites skipper and Nottingham Forest striker reportedly earns an annual salary of £4,160,000, at £80,000 a week ($NZ158,000). Impressive but not up there with a good week in Danny Lee’s standards.
Kyle Jamieson (cricket)
The fast bowler was picked up in the 2021 Indian Premier League by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for a massive NZ$2.86 million (15 crore rupees) – the most ever for a Black Cap. However, IPL contracts are not direct cash in hand and depend on how many matches you play and other incentives to earn the full amount, so it’s unclear how much Jamieson pocketed from the contract after missing a chunk of the season.
Israel Adesanya (UFC)
Adesanya reportedly has one of the biggest deals in UFC and earns more than US$1m a fight and gets pay-per-view percentage on top of that.
Russell Coutts (sailing)
After successfully defending the America’s Cup with Team New Zealand in 2000, Coutts shocked the nation by joining Swiss team Alinghi and taking the Auld Mug away three years later. Alinghi head Ernesto Bertarelli later revealed that Coutts’ salary ranked with those of the greatest footballers. “I cannot divulge the terms of the contract but you’d be shocked. His salary does not lag behind that of the main Swiss CEOs,” said Bertarelli, who at the time was worth $11.4 billion.
