Nowadays, professional athletes who have been lucky enough to make an household name for themselves usually take it one step further by making a splash with their own brand. This is a common phenomenon because let’s face it, some of these athletes wiled an enormous level of influence so whatever they are associated with might as well bring them as much money as the sport itself.
In this article, we have gathered a list of 20 Pro athletes who have been ultra- successful in their chosen sport and now own their own brands. This list covers sportsmen and women across a diverse range of sports to cover every aspect.

Michael Jordan
MJ, as he is fondly called is probably one of the most influential athletes of his generation and this generation. So much that even after the Chicago Bulls legend was given a Presidential Medal of Freedom by the President Obama in 2016, the highest civilian honor that could be bestowed on an American, seemed like one of Michael’s lesser achievements, when compared to his impact on the sporting scene. Michael Jordan has exemplified the best type of athlete anyone can be in his chosen sport and it should come as no surprise that Forbes listed him as “the most recognizable athlete of all time”
Michael’s official basketball shoes, Air Jordan which was created in honor pf the Six-time NBA Finals MVP has and still continues to make waves and some serious money.

Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portuguese Megastar has played for some of the best clubs in the world throughout his glittering career, with Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and currently Juventus but one thing that has always travelled with him is the lifelong comparison with his arch rival, Lionel Messi.
Unlike his rival, Ronaldo is more of a business oriented individual and there is no greater evidence of this than when Forbes listed Ronaldo as the third hihest paid athlete and hhest padi soccer player in the wordl for 2015. Zronaldo has his own CR& clothing Line as the aceonym, CR& has basically become his personal Logo.

LeBron James
LeBron James is considered one of the best players of his generation and in many ways, he and Michael Jordan were alike. The Los Angeles Lakers Superstar is one of the highest paid players in the NBA and has won several awards to his name.
However, as much as on field performances have won him several wards, his off field business acumen has also been wildly lauded. The superstar has a Jams’ Nike shoe brand with sales topping over 300million. He has deals with companies such as kia and Coca Cola, not including the more than 60million which he earns from sporting deals. James owns a small marketing frim, a media company, and has ownership stakes in Blake Pizza and English football club, Liverpool FC.

Stephen Curry
Steph Curry is an American Basketball Player with the shot output of a god. The Golden States Warriors Point Guard is a brand ambassador to Express Stores, with his name also being linked with Active Faith Sports and Under Armor.

Jack Nicklaus
The American Professional Golfer is probably the broadest on this list, , the appropriately named Jack Nicklaus Apparel designs golf wear for most top personalities — all enhanced with the notorious brilliant bear logo.

Serena Williams
With 23 Grand Slams, more than any other player in the open Era, the 2015 AP Female Athlete of the Year facilitated her own show at New York Fashion Week in 2016, divulging a line of attire for the Home Shopping Network.

Venus Williams
A pizazz for style plainly runs in the tennis stars’ family. Serena’s more seasoned sister’s image, EleVen, has some expertise in premium wellness and tennis skirts, tops and dresses.

Maria Sharapova
Being named the most generously compensated female competitor by Forbes several years straight doesn’t come without support work. Sharapova has worked together with Nike to make a line of in vogue tennis and athletic clothing, notwithstanding supporting tennis gear and sunscreen.

Roger Federer
Roger Federer will probably never again be the best tennis player on the planet. Federer has fabricated a brand off long stretches of achievement and a standing for being perhaps the best part throughout the entire existence of the game.
Forbes had Federer as the fifth most generously compensated competitor on the planet for 2015. As per Forbes, $40 million of the revealed $67 million that Federer made came from his sponsorship bargains. Alongside business connections that Federer has produced during his profession, Federer has his own apparel line. You can see fans sporting equipment that includes the unmistakable “RF” logo at whatever point you go to an ATP occasion.
Federer is plainly not the player of old, nor is he harming for cash nowadays. One may accept that Federer would have eyes on future marketable strategies from the court.

Derek Jeter
The resigned Yankees star has been the substance of numerous brands throughout the long term. Since hanging up his spikes, he has collaborated with Movado to make exceptional version dedicatory watches and keeps on working with Avon to create his own line of colognes. He is currently the CEO of Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball.

Tony Hawk
Hawk helped to establish skateboard and stuff organization Birdhouse in 1992 and has since made claim to fame lines of sheets and such for Kohl’s and Target.

David Beckham
While he will probably always be remembered for modeling skivvies in Armani ads, Beckham has a slew of brands under his belt, from his DB Bodywear to Belstaff to a collaboration with H&M.

Dwayne Wade
Miami Heat point monitor, Dwayne Wade, has teamed up with sock brand, Stance, since 2013. He’s since extended the organization to present a more reasonable assortment under the brand, called Pkwy. Swim has additionally cooperated with gear brand, Away, for a restricted release assortment of the brand’s aluminum bags, and with Dsquared2 for a case assortment in 2017.

Peyton Manning
One of the best football players ever, Manning might be an even better endorser. The former Colt and Bronco has worked with major brands like Nike, Buick, DirecTV, Gatorade, Nationwide and Papa John’s. In 2012, Manning took his partnership with Papa John’s to the next level by investing in 21 franchises in the Denver area; he currently owns more than 30.

Magic Johnson
Johnson made significant news during the 1980s when, notwithstanding winning NBA titles, he marked a 25-year, $25 million agreement with the Los Angeles Lakers. Presently, NBA players regularly sign for that in a solitary season, yet Johnson’s undertakings – most strikingly Magic Johnson Enterprises – have made him wealthier and more powerful than the individuals who made 10 fold the amount of during their playing careers. Magic Johnson made significant news during the 1980s when, notwithstanding winning NBA titles, he marked a 25-year, $25 million agreement with the Los Angeles Lakers. Presently, NBA players regularly sign for that in a solitary season, yet Johnson’s undertakings – most strikingly Magic Johnson Enterprises – have made him wealthier and more persuasive than the individuals who made 10 fold the amount of during their playing professions.

Michael Phelps
Phelps has risen above swimming and jumped into the standard of American sports. He’s pre-owned his image and accomplishment to shape the Michael Phelps Foundation, which advances sound ways of life, and he’s likewise joined the leading body of Medibio, an organization that attempts to analyze emotional wellness issues.

Warren Moon
Since announcing his retirement in 2001, Moon has worked on business and philanthropic ventures. He is co-founder and president of Sports 1 Marketing, while his foundation, The Crescent Moon Foundation, provides support for children’s educational pursuits. He also sits on non-profit boards that include the Rose Bowl Foundation and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Shawne Merriman
Notwithstanding turning into the originator and CEO of his own Lights Out attire brand, Merriman has shown up in TV programs like Entourage and The Challenge: Champs versus Professionals. He is likewise important for NASCAR driver Jesse Iwuji’s dashing group.

Fluro, its been in and out since the 80’s. The simple fact that it keeps coming back on trend for the last 40-odd years tells us that it’s not going to stop now. There’s something about fluro. Whether it’s the stand-out factor, a sense of individuality or the perception of persona that it creates. Fluro has been back in a big way recently, we’re seeing it with streetwear, high-street fashion and on the runways. It’s generally been reserved for the brave and ambitious, but we’re seeing it become more integrated into the norm.

A trend we’ve picked up on recently has been the fluro sneaker trend. One of the brands that we’ve worked with previously here at Athletic Drip is ATHLETIKAN. They’re an athleisure sneaker brand founded in Australia that releases limited edition sneakers. We know the guys at ATHLETIKAN well and they tell us their most popular colourways are everything fluro. Everything from pink, green, red to yellow and blue. Alongside the everyday must-haves like black, white & grey, fluro sneakers can be that bang to bring your kit to the next level. We’ve seen them styled to perfection not only for the gym, but for that ath-street look too.

We’re going to take a look at some of the best-selling fluro kicks from ATHLETIKAN:

FLURO PINK

Outrageous colourway, but we love it. Naturally you would assume fluro pink would be primarily a female colourway, but according to the guys at Athletikan all of their fluro range are very unisex, including this one. It’s a bold statement. As with all fluro sneakers, they’re usually best paired with a predominantly one-coloured outfit such as black, white or grey to let the colour do the talking.

See the product here: FLURO PINK

FLURO ORANGE

In the last 12 months in particular we’ve seen a lot of NBA players and top footballers don fluro footwear, particularly orange. Let’s be honest, it’s a pretty dope colourway.

See the product here: FLURO ORANGE

FLURO BLUE

Blue, particularly fluro blue, is not necessarily a common sneaker colour. But it seriously works. It’s got a very spring/summer feel with a moody vibe. Works very well with black to really pop.

See the product here: FLURO BLUE

FLURO GREEN

Alright alright, this is a whole lot of colour. But we’ve heard from our friends at Athletikan that their most popular colour for both guys and girls is fluro green. We can see why, it’s freakin’ cool.

The fluro range from Athletikan will set you back about $129 AUD ($94 USD). You can see the full collection here: See the Athletikan Fluro Collection

An unsuspecting sneaker brand from Melbourne, Australia, is now making waves worldwide by collaborating with some of the biggest UFC fighters. We say unsuspecting, because Athletikan was only founded in 2016, but has managed to secure some of the biggest names on the circuit.

They’ve already collaborated with names like TJ Dillashaw, Paige Van Zant, Rose Namajunas & Francis Ngannou to name a few. In some ways, it’s a natural fit. Athletikan really portrays itself as an edgy street-like athleisure brand, a far cry from the politically correct, curated brand feeds that we often see in the athleisure world. A quick scroll through their Instagram feed shows a plethora of bright shoes, edgy street photos, fighters, boxers and very attractive models. A match made in heaven, really.

The brand has really found a somewhat unofficial affiliation with MMA fighters by collaborating with some of the biggest stars. It’s a clever strategy for a business without having the big bucks to spend like it’s established counterparts. We interviewed one of the co-founders of Athletikan, Joe Tamburrino, about the meteoric rise and how they came to collab with these UFC heavyweights. Joe says that “we were initially just putting the product into the hands of these guys to see what they think of the product. The next thing we’re doing new sneaker collabs with some of the biggest fighters. It was pretty crazy.” Athletikan now has over 60,000 followers on Instagram and Joe credits a lot to the exposure that the collaborations have given them. “It’s been really phenomenal, it’s really put us on the map and legitimized us as a proper brand amongst the giants”.

Athletikan has thus far collaborated with several fighters to bring out their signature shoes. Here’s a few of the recent releases:

TJ Dillashaw x Athletikan

The former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion released the “Champ Edition” with Athletikan when he was at the absolute peak of his powers. Athletikan are known to release their new editions in limited stock, so they tend to sell out pretty quickly which causes increased demand and value. TJ Dillashaw’s release was no exception, selling out it minutes.

Rose Namajunas (Thug Rose) x Athletikan

There’s no denying the influence of Rose with over 1.5million followers with some of those including Cristiano Ronaldo and former president-elect Tulsi Gabbard. Rose & Athletikan have very recenly partnered on an ‘Electric Yellow’ release, and pwoah, the imagery is absolute fire.

Michelle Waterson x Athletikan

Michelle needs no introduction. The former number 1 women’s atomweight fighter in the world collaborated with Athletikan on her own signature shoe and it’s absolute fire. The shoe, which sold out in a matter of minutes, featured a triple red base with subtle black features. Very cool.

“We never planned to get so much support from MMA fighters, but we’re grateful for the opportunity!”

Joe Tamburrino, Co-founder athletikan

Aside from the epic collaboration releases, the brand has also collaborated with some of the athletes on a smaller scale as pictured below, including Alex Volkanovski, Francis Ngannou and Megan Anderson.

When asked about whether Athletikan plans to continue collaborating with UFC fighters, co-founder Joe Tamburrino had this to say; “we never intended to exclusive work with MMA fighters, or athletes from any one category. We’ve done some really cool collabs with some of the best DJ’s in the world and athletes from other sports. But we’ve now got some of the fighters coming to us asking for product and collabs which is really cool and definitely validates our product and what we’re doing”.

Tap here to check out Athletikan’s range of sneakers.

For more information on Athletikan and its collaborations head to the Athletikan website for details.