There was a mention on Radio 4 this morning of how the earnings of the top Roman chariot racer, when converted to modern currency, are much larger than any contemporary athlete - about $15 billion!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7942...
Re:Man and Superman
by informatimago on Monday September 02, 2013 @03:36PM
(#6316727)
Not 2000, in antiquity, they only earned some laurel (and it was as common as today). Gold and silver medails started to be given 150 years ago. But now it's finished, they only get worthless gold plated medails, plus e sponsorship deals.
Valuable prizes in sport goes back to at least 500 BC. And even for events that didn't have prize money, leveraging the fame that came with being the winner of a great event into money and fortune was as common then as it is now.
Two thousand years ago or so (maybe more), when prize money and sponsorship deals became a thing.