Australia’s highest-earning female athletes in 2025 and the growth of women’s sports commercial value
Consensus Summary
The articles from SMH and The Age highlight the growing commercial success of Australia’s top female athletes in 2025, emphasizing the rise in prizemoney, playing contracts, and endorsement deals. Minjee Lee leads the list with $5.5 million in prizemoney after winning her third major, while Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler rank second and third, respectively. The 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand significantly boosted the profiles of Kerr and Fowler, mirroring the national support seen for teams like the 2016 Rio rugby sevens gold medalists and the 2020 T20 World Cup finalists. Cricket Australia’s increased investment in women’s cricket, raising the share to $133 million, has led to higher earnings for players like Beth Mooney, Phoebe Litchfield, and Alyssa Healy, who benefit from substantial playing and marketing contracts. Tennis stars such as Olivia Gadecki, Priscilla Hon, Ajla Tomljanovic, and Kim Birrell also feature prominently, with Gadecki earning $1.15 million in prizemoney and Tomljanovic leveraging her marketability through media appearances and brand partnerships. The articles underscore a broader trend of brands valuing athletes who transcend sport, blending authenticity, cultural relevance, and cross-platform engagement to amplify their commercial appeal.
✓ Verified by 2+ sources
Key details reported by multiple sources:
- Minjee Lee earned $US3.9 million (about $5.5 million AUD) in prizemoney in 2025, winning her third major and topping the list of Australia’s richest female athletes.
- Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler are ranked in the top three of Australia’s richest female athletes, behind Minjee Lee.
- Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association increased women players’ share from $80 million to $133 million in 2023.
- At least six Australian female athletes earned more than $1 million each in 2025 from sport-related income.
- Mary Fowler secured endorsements with Samsung, L’Oréal Paris, Weet-Bix, and Barbie after switching to Always Human in February 2024.
- The LPGA Tour offered a record $190-plus million in prizemoney in 2025, a 90% increase from four years earlier.
- Priscilla Hon earned almost $900,000 in prizemoney in 2025, including qualifying for Wimbledon and the US Open, and had partnerships with Head, The Upside, and a2 milk.
- Olivia Gadecki generated a career-high $1.15 million in prizemoney in 2025, including winning the Australian Open mixed doubles title and reaching Wimbledon semi-finals.
- Ajla Tomljanovic is an IMG athlete and one of Australia’s most marketable tennis players, with partnerships including Wilson, Penguin, and Bondi Sands.
- Phoebe Litchfield earned about $185,000 in the WPL, $124,000 in The Hundred, and $110,000 in the WBBL in 2025, with commercial deals from Gatorade, Nike, and Westpac.
- Beth Mooney earned about $370,000 in the WPL and $200,000 combined in the WBBL and The Hundred in 2025, with a Cricket Australia contract and deals with Nike and Prudence Rehab.
- Alyssa Healy earned about $400,000 from Cricket Australia playing and marketing contracts before retirement, with commercial deals including Westpac, Kookaburra, and ASICS.
- Jessica Fox, a triple Olympic gold medallist, has lucrative partnerships with Adidas, Toyota, Red Bull, and L’Oréal Paris.
- The 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand saw the Matildas achieve their best result of fourth place, boosting Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler’s profiles.
Points of Difference
Details reported by only one source:
- Maya Joint won her first two WTA titles in 2025, slashed her ranking from No.118 to 32, and earned over $US1 million ($1.5 million AUD) in prizemoney.
- Kim Birrell made her top-100 singles debut in 2025, earned $1.1 million in prizemoney, and had partnerships with Elite Eleven, Babolat, and Sukin.
- Ash Gardner earned about $585,000 in the WPL in 2025, with a Cricket Australia contract of about $150,000 and commercial deals with Nike and DSC.
- Annabel Sutherland earned about $370,000 in the WPL and $230,000 combined in the WBBL and The Hundred, with ASICS as a commercial partner.
- Molly Picklum won her maiden World Surf League title in September 2025.
- Maya Joint’s commercial portfolio includes Elite Eleven, Yonex, and Red Bull, with ranking-based bonuses from these brands.
- Kim Birrell had patch partners including TK Maxx, Birds Eye, Liquid I.V., Blue Owl Capital, and Galaxy Digital in 2025.
- Ajla Tomljanovic hosts the Love Ajla series on the Tennis Channel and regularly features in WTA Tour content.
Contradictions
Conflicting information between sources:
- The articles do not provide any contradictory information regarding verifiable facts, dates, or numbers.
Source Articles
Kerr and Fowler are big names. But they’re not the richest female Aussie athletes
There are big names and some lesser-knowns in our list of the top 20 highest-paid Australian women athletes, based on salaries, prizemoney and sponsorship returns....
Kerr and Fowler are big names. But they’re not the richest female Aussie athletes
There are big names and some lesser-knowns in our list of the top 20 highest-paid Australian women athletes, based on salaries, prizemoney and sponsorship returns....