Megan Rapinoe’s Net Worth in 2024: Following Retirement, the Athlete Continues to Work Hard

She built her earnings through over a decade of NWSL and USWNT play, as well as impressive brand deals and endorsements.

Megan Rapinoe / Rick Kern/Getty Images

With SI Swimsuit’s Net Worth Series: Empowering Equal Pay, our goal is to shine a light on incredible athletes while examining income disparities and promoting equal pay across industries.

Retired American soccer player Megan Rapinoe is a fixture of the history books. During her 14-year professional career, she notched countless accomplishments both on and off the field.

Some of her most impressive on-field resume points include two FIFA World Cup wins (in 2015 and 2019), one Olympic gold medal (at the 2012 London games) and the 2019 FIFA Player of the Year Award. In the 2023 NWSL Championship game—the final game of her lengthy NWSL career (most of which was spent with the OL Reign in Seattle)—Rapinoe exited early with an injury. Though not the best end to her storied career, the athlete stayed positive.

“I feel so lucky and so grateful to have played as long as I’ve played and to have played with the incredible players that I’ve played [with],” she said. “Every sort of new cycle that I’ve come with, I’ve gotten close to certain players and built relationships and played with some of the very best players in the world.”

Off the field, she was the recipient of the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom, was Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year in 2019, is a New York Times best-selling author and one of Time100’s Most Influential People. She is also a staunch advocate for equality between men’s and women’s sports. To that end, alongside fiancé Sue Bird, she cofounded a production company, A Touch More, in 2022 to “uplift powerful narratives” and support change-makers.

Megan Rapinoe / Elsa/Getty Images

How did Megan Rapinoe get her start?

Inspired by watching her older brother, Rapinoe picked up soccer at just 3 years old—and the rest is history.

She proceeded to play through high school and college before being selected second overall by the Chicago Red Stars in the 2009 Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) Draft. It was the first season for the league, which was the highest division of U.S. soccer until the NWSL was founded in 2012. After that, the WPS was suspended and Rapinoe signed short-term contracts with a handful of teams before landing with the OL Reign in 2013. She spent the remainder of her career with the squad in Seattle.

Megan Rapinoe / Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

But even before her national career kicked off, Rapinoe established herself as a promising member of the U.S. women’s national team. She made her debut for the squad in 2006, but then took a step back during the 2007 and 2008 seasons due to injury. Once she returned to the senior national team in 2009, she spent the remainder of her professional career helping the USWNT to victories on the international stage.

Megan Rapinoe’s college career

Alongside her twin sister, Rachael, Rapinoe attended the University of Portland, where she played Division I soccer in a Pilots uniform. As a freshman, she helped lead the team to their second College Cup title, notching one goal and an assist in the final and earning both All-West Coast Conference First Team and All-West Coast Conference Freshman Team honors.

Megan Rapinoe / Rodolfo Gonzalez/Getty Images

The following two years saw Rapinoe suffer two different ACL injuries, which prevented her from competing for the duration of her sophomore and junior seasons (and likewise prevented her from competing in USWNT competitions). She closed out her college career in 2008, during which she earned West Coast Conference Player of the Year honors.

Megan Rapinoe’s endorsement deals and brand partners

Rapinoe is represented by sports marketing and talent management company, Wasserman. Through their partnership, she has secured brand deals with a handful of well-known companies, including Nike, Victoria’s Secret, Google and Lego Group.

In 2023 alone, the athlete made approximately $7.5 million in endorsements, which included making instructional videos for The Skills, a new venture through NBC’s streaming service, SportsEngine Play.

Megan Rapinoe’s net worth

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Rapinoe’s net worth is currently estimated to be about $5 million. The sum is composed of her NWSL salary, USWNT tournament bonuses and a variety of impressive brand deals. Though Rapinoe is no longer playing professionally (and thus no longer earning an annual salary), she continues to work with her sponsors and earn commissions through brand campaigns and the like.

Megan Rapinoe’s net worth compared to other professional soccer players

Though widely considered one of the best women’s soccer players of the century (and certainly one of the best in the U.S.), Rapinoe’s salary and net worth can’t compare with those of top male soccer players.

During her last season with OL Reign, Rapinoe earned a salary of about $700,000, to which she added her $7.5 million in endorsements for a total of about $8.2 million on the year. Comparatively, Lionel Messi earned $20.4 million during the 2024 season with Inter Miami. But that’s far from the extent of his annual income. His endorsement deal with Adidas alone earns him about $25 million every year—and his net worth is estimated at $650 million.

In other words, women’s sports may be getting more media attention these days, but they still have a long way to go when it comes to equal pay.