![\"Phoebe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/c6307be157b50b1472516ffa467d736710dc3b19.jpeg\")
Phoebe Litchfield and Ellyse Perry are two Australian cricketers earning more than $1 million a year under improved conditions for women athletes.Getty Images<\/p>\nWelcome to the new age of women\u2019s sport.<\/p>\n
There is more prizemoney up for grabs, bigger playing contracts and greater commercial value than ever before \u2013 even if they are still mostly trailing their male peers.<\/p>\n
For example, the LPGA Tour in the United States offered a record $190-plus million in prizemoney last year, a 90 per cent increase on four years earlier.<\/p>\n
Closer to home, Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers\u2019 Association announced a new memorandum of understanding in 2023 that boosted women players\u2019 share from $80 million to $133 million. At least six of those athletes earned more than $1 million each last year.<\/p>\n
Phoebe Litchfield and Ellyse Perry are two Australian cricketers earning more than $1 million a year under improved conditions for women athletes.Getty Images<\/p>\n
Last month, WNBA owners ratified a historic collective bargaining agreement that will mean salaries rocketing for the world\u2019s leading women\u2019s basketballers, many of whom are Australian.<\/p>\n
In the fourth part of our series on the top-earning Australian athletes<\/a>, we take a look at the 20 richest women.<\/p>\n Scroll to the bottom for a full, searchable list, and click below to find out about the process we followed to bring the list together.<\/p>\n Josh White, chief executive for marketing agency Always Human, which represents the likes of soccer star Mary Fowler, cricketer Ellyse Perry, Olympian Jessica Fox, swimmer Kaylee McKeown and pole vaulter Nina Kennedy, said big brands were increasingly attracted to the \u201cauthenticity\u201d of athletes, as well as their credibility and cultural significance.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a huge commercial reset that\u2019s happening around women\u2019s sport, and each year it is getting bigger and bigger,\u201d White told this masthead.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most valuable athletes sit at the intersection of sport and culture. You look at someone like Mary Fowler \u2013 one moment she\u2019s playing for Man City, and the next she\u2019s on the Paris runway with Kendall Jenner.\u201d<\/p>\n Fowler joins fellow Matildas superstar Sam Kerr in the top three of this rich list, behind only golf star Minjee Lee, who cashed in with her career-best 2025 season, in which she collected $US3.9 million prizemoney (about $5.5 million) as she won her third major.<\/p>\n The soccer duo\u2019s respective profiles soared during the 2023 World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand, when the Matildas achieved their best result of fourth while capturing the country\u2019s imagination.<\/p>\n White likened that event to how the nation got behind Australia\u2019s gold medal-winning rugby sevens team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and the Australian women\u2019s cricket team making the T20 World Cup final in 2020.<\/p>\n Fowler switched representation to Always Human in February 2024, and White secured endorsements with Samsung, L\u2019Or\u00e9al Paris, Weet-Bix and Barbie within the next few months.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew Mary was marketable and could have a really strong commercial proposition, if we steered it properly,\u201d White said. \u201cShe is an incredible athlete on the field, but it was her story, heritage \u2013 part-Irish, PNG and an Aussie \u2013 interests and how she resonated with her audience that set her apart.<\/p>\n \u201cThis word \u2018authentic\u2019 gets thrown around a lot, but her audience was really engaged with everything she was saying and doing, and how she was positioning herself, and for a brand, that\u2019s super powerful.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a big pool of great athletes competing at the highest level, but the ones who stand out commercially are those who develop a clear identity beyond their sport. When an athlete can move between the pitch, fashion, entertainment, lifestyle and social media, their commercial value increases dramatically.\u201d <\/p>\n The list<\/p>\n Priscilla Hon made her top-100 debut in 2025 and earned more than twice as much prizemoney in a season than she ever had before. The Queenslander\u2019s almost $900,000 of on-court earnings included qualifying at Wimbledon and the US Open, where she made it to the third round. Her New York run also delivered commercial benefits, including patch sponsorships with Allies of Skin and retailer Zales, while she wore a Clearpay patch at Wimbledon. Hon had a Bondi Sands deal during the 2025 Australian tennis summer, and partnerships with Head, activewear brand The Upside and a2 milk.<\/p>\n Phoebe Litchfield is one of cricket\u2019s rising stars. The aggressive top-order batter played in all three international Twenty20 competitions last year, earning a good amount at each stop: WPL (about $185,000), The Hundred ($124,000) and WBBL ($110,000). Litchfield is also already among the country\u2019s top-paid players with her Cricket Australia playing and marketing contracts, sources told this masthead. She rounds out her on-field earnings with a good list of commercial partners, including Gatorade, Nike, Kookaburra, Westpac and Toyota.<\/p>\n The back-to-back Belinda Clark Award winner as Australia\u2019s best-performed women\u2019s cricketer should be one of the faces of the sport at home for the next decade. Annabel Sutherland, a batting all-rounder who is the sister of fellow cricketer Will and daughter of ex-Cricket Australia chief executive James, collected about $370,000 to play in the WPL last year. She made another $230,000-plus across the WBBL and The Hundred competitions. Sutherland\u2019s track record has also earned her hefty CA playing and marketing contracts, including regularly being used to promote home series matches. Her commercial partners include Gray-Nicolls<\/a> and ASICS.<\/p>\n The star batter-wicketkeeper is one of the most in-demand cricketers in franchise Twenty20 competitions. Beth Mooney scored about $370,000 to play in the WPL last year, on top of about $200,000 combined for competing in the WBBL and The Hundred. She is also one of the best remunerated from her Cricket Australia playing and marketing contracts. Mooney will rank even higher next year, given she just scored an equal-record payday of \u00a3210,000 (about $400,000) to play in The Hundred in 2026. She has deals with Gray-Nicolls<\/a> and Nike, and is an ambassador for Prudence Rehab and Fitstop Chermside.<\/p>\n The lion\u2019s share of Olivia Gadecki\u2019s earnings last year came on the court, where she generated a career-high $1.15 million in prizemoney thanks in large part to her doubles results. She partnered countryman John Peers to the Australian Open mixed doubles title, and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals with American Desirae Krawczyk, on top of contesting three grand slam singles main draws. Gadecki has a clothing and footwear deal with ASICS, a racquet contract with Yonex and had patch sponsorships with ANZ and Ecoya at last year\u2019s Australian Open.<\/p>\n Only one player \u2013 India opener Smriti Mandhana \u2013 commanded a higher salary in last year\u2019s Women\u2019s Premier League than Ash Gardner, who received a payday of about $585,000. That accounts for close to half the star all-rounder\u2019s estimated 2025 earnings, including another $200,000 combined across The Hundred and WBBL. Gardner\u2019s Cricket Australia contract is about $150,000, a figure potentially matched by her marketing deal, but sources say this figure varies by player. Her biggest commercial deals are with Nike and her bat sponsor, DSC.<\/p>\n Kim Birrell made her top-100 singles debut last year during a career-best season in which she contested the main draw at all four majors for the first time and represented Australia in the Billie Jean King Cup. Her financial reward was a cool $1.1 million in prizemoney \u2013 bolstered by reaching last year\u2019s Australian Open mixed doubles final with John-Patrick Smith \u2013 and her ranking peaked at No.60. Birrell had partnerships with Elite Eleven, Babolat, Sukin, Koala and Shokz headphones, while her patch partners included TK Maxx, Birds Eye, Liquid I.V., Blue Owl Capital and Galaxy Digital. More commercial deals have already flowed into 2026.<\/p>\n The triple grand slam quarter-finalist cleared $1 million prizemoney again last year. She made two semi-finals in WTA 250 events and a quarter-final at the WTA 500 at Ningbo, China. An IMG athlete, Ajla Tomljanovic is one of Australia\u2019s most marketable tennis players. She is a Hot Shots ambassador, was apparel brand Penguin\u2019s first female athlete, and has a racquet deal with Wilson. Her patch partners last year included Blue Owl Capital, FICO, MEBO International, Vital Proteins and Hisense, while she promoted Bondi Sands last Australian summer. Tomljanovic also hosts the Love Ajla series on the Tennis Channel and regularly features in WTA Tour content.<\/p>\n Alyssa Healy is in the early weeks of retirement, but was one of Australia\u2019s top-earning women\u2019s cricketers until the end. The former national captain went unclaimed in The Hundred and scored a smaller WPL pay packet than her elite peers (about $123,000), but was on the highest Cricket Australia playing and marketing contracts, earning about $400,000 before match payments and prizemoney. Healy was also among the $110,000 platinum earners in the WBBL. Her commercial portfolio is vast, from Westpac to Kookaburra, ASICS, Aussie Broadband, Drummond Golf and SParms \u2013 the last two alongside her husband, fellow cricket star Mitchell Starc \u2013 and Fox Sports.<\/p>\n Related Article The Michigan-born Australian, whose father grew up in Melbourne, enjoyed a breakout season on the WTA Tour in 2025. Maya Joint won her first two WTA titles, slashed her ranking from No.118 to 32, and pocketed more than $US1 million prizemoney ($1.5 million). Her commercial portfolio continues to grow, but last year included partnerships with Elite Eleven, Yonex and Red Bull. Joint will also earn more bonuses with those brands because of her higher ranking, while tennis players typically have performance bonuses in their contracts as well.<\/p>\n Part of the ever-growing Always Human talent stable, Jessica Fox is a triple Olympic gold medallist and 10-time world champion who is viewed as one of Australia\u2019s best and most influential sportswomen. She heightens her sport\u2019s profile, not the other way around. Canoe slalom might not be mainstream, particularly outside an Olympic year, but Fox has still become a household name with a series of lucrative partners. That list includes Adidas, Toyota, Red Bull, L\u2019Or\u00e9al Paris, Sydney Water, Grant Thornton and Griffith University.<\/p>\n Molly Picklum joined Australian surfing royalty when she won her maiden World Surf League title in September. It was a lucrative year for the Gosford star, who collected more than $1 million in prizemoney, including for being world champion and her two tour wins. That title delivered bonuses from two key sponsors, Red Bull<\/a> and Rip Curl, as part of deals worth about $200,000 each overall in 2025. Picklum also has partnerships with Hyundai and Visa. She has the same agent, Nikki Mathias, as fellow surfer Stephanie Gilmore and retired tennis star Ash Barty.<\/p>\n Ellyse Perry is one of Australia\u2019s best, most marketable athletes. Adidas snapped up the cricket star, who also scored a famous goal for the Matildas at the 2011 World Cup, when she was only 16 \u2013 and they remain aligned. She is also a Weet-Bix athlete, along with Mary Fowler and Alex de Minaur, has a bat deal with Indian company SG and commentates for Fox Sports. Perry\u2019s CommBank partnership ended mid-last year, when the long-term pact with Cricket Australia ceased. Other earnings came from cricket salaries, from her CA playing and marketing contracts (about $400,000 combined) to WPL (more than $300,000), WBBL ($110,000) and The Hundred ($124,000).<\/p>\n The 2019 Women\u2019s PGA Championship winner did not match the heights of her brilliant 2024 season, but still performed well enough last year to earn more than $US1 million (about $1.4 million). Hannah Green also received a $US125,000 ($175,000) share for Australia\u2019s International Crown triumph, in combination with Minjee Lee, Grace Kim and Stephanie Kyriacou. Her bulging commercial portfolio includes Srixon \u2013 although she does not exclusively use its clubs \u2013 ISPS Handa, Cisco, apparel brand ANEW Golf, Goodr sunglasses and Ford Australia.<\/p>\n Stephanie Kyriacou is one of a number of Australian women making their mark in golf. She earned almost $US1 million on the LPGA Tour and another \u20ac388,416 in Europe for a total of more than $2 million. That figure does not include the $US125,000 ($175,000) she scored as her share for Australia\u2019s International Crown team win. Kyriacou also has commercial partnerships with Titleist (equipment), Walker Golf (apparel), SParms (sun-protection apparel) and sports technology company Rapsodo.<\/p>\n The Russian-turned-Australian switched allegiances 12 months ago. Daria Kasatkina earned almost $US1.5 million (more than $2 million) in prizemoney last year despite ending her season in September. She has a long-term apparel and footwear deal with adidas \u2013 but adidas athletes cannot wear patches on their clothing, which removes a common revenue stream for tennis players. The former world No.8 has used Artengo racquets for the past four years, which is another good earner. These partnerships come with tournament and ranking bonuses.<\/p>\n Grace Kim won her maiden major title in miraculous fashion<\/a> at last year\u2019s Amundi Evian Championship, delivering her the lion\u2019s share of her $US1.7 million (about $2.4 million) in prizemoney for the season. That victory should pay commercial dividends as well, but she already has a gear partnership with Srixon and Cleveland Golf, an apparel deal with adidas and is a global ambassador for lawnmower brand Husqvarna. Kim\u2019s individual prizemoney tally for 2025 did not include Australia\u2019s International Crown triumph in Seoul, where she partnered Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Stephanie Kyriacou. They received $US125,000 ($175,000) each.<\/p>\n Sam Kerr\u2019s \u00a3449,000 salary with Women\u2019s Super League club Chelsea in 2024 was behind only two female soccer players on the planet, and she is reportedly fifth currently<\/a> at \u00a3466,000 (almost $890,000). A new collective bargaining agreement meant Matildas stars such as Kerr, captain since 2019, could earn up to $200,000 annually<\/a> for representing Australia. But where she really cashes in is off the field, including a reported $1 million-a-year deal with Nike<\/a>. Among Kerr\u2019s other sponsors are MasterCard and telco company MATE. She is also an ambassador for EA Sports, and Commonwealth Bank is the Matildas\u2019 naming rights partner. More deals have rolled in for 2026.<\/p>\n The Matildas sensation has arguably overtaken Sam Kerr as the country\u2019s most marketable soccer star. Mary Fowler, who made the Women\u2019s Super League team of the year<\/a> for the 2024-25 season, out-earns her NRL champion partner Nathan Cleary. She has just signed a record-breaking five-year, $10 million deal with adidas despite intense interest from Nike and New Balance. Sanitarium, L\u2019Or\u00e9al Paris<\/a>, Samsung, NIB Insurance, Penguin Random House, Rebel Sport<\/a>, Rise & Shine Kindergarten<\/a> and Matildas backers CommBank and CUPRA are among Fowler\u2019s commercial partners. She extended her Manchester City contract until 2027<\/a> \u2013 worth almost $300,000 a season \u2013 and collects up to $200,000 annually to represent Australia.<\/p>\n Minjee Lee became just the third Australian woman<\/a> \u2013 behind Karrie Webb and Jan Stephenson \u2013 to win at least three golf majors when she claimed the Women\u2019s PGA Championship in Texas. The world No.4 earned $US3.9 million (about $5.5 million) in prizemoney during a 2025 season in which she posted eight top-10 finishes. She received another $US125,000 ($175,000) share for Australia\u2019s International Crown triumph. Lee is a strong off-course performer<\/a>, fuelled by partnerships with the likes of Callaway, Malbon Golf, Hana Bank, ADP, BMW, Adidas and ISPS Handa, on top of being an ambassador for Las Vegas Sands.<\/p>\n The data<\/p>\n![\"Sam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5922e0bff2c6215fd494743bef60137bfc61e7b0.jpeg\")
Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler are the Matildas\u2019 biggest stars.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Maya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/361f42a2bf4d2094eed1e2bd0d06e538c80b61fc.jpeg\")
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