The survey considers the pay of almost 10,000 sportsmen at 333 teams in seven sports across 17 of the world's richest leagues.
Manchester United first-team stars earn an average annual salary of £5.77million - the highest in world football.
Barcelona, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Chelsea make up the football top five but basketball sides Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Yankees and LA Clippers topped them all.
The average Premier League player earns £2.4m a year, according to the global sports salary survey (GSSS).
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That is double that of players in La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga.
The individual player list is headed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi who each earn £18.98m a year, or £365,000 a week.
Top 10 best-paid sports teams (average annual salary)
1. Cleveland Cavaliers (£6.54m)
2. New York Yankees (£5.81m)
3. LA Clippers (£5.78m)
4. Manchester United (£5.77m)
5. Barcelona (£5.64m)
6. Portland Trail Blazers (£5.59m)
7 Memphis Grizzlies (£5.51m)
8. Dallas Mavericks (£5.50m)
9. Manchester City (£5.42m)
10. Orlando Magic (£5.38m)
1= Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid (£18.98m)
1= Lionel Messi - Barcelona (£18.98m)
3. Gareth Bale - Real Madrid (£18.2m)
4. Hulk Shanghai- SIPG (£16.64m)
5. Paul Pogba - Man United (£15.51m)
6. Graziano Pelle - Shangdong Lueng (£14.2m)
7. Ezequiel Lavezzi - Hebei China Fortune (£13.5m)
8. Wayne Rooney - Man United (£13.5m)
9. Neymar - Barcelona (£13.4m)
10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Man United (£13m)
Top 10 best-paid footballers (annual salary)
1= Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid (£18.98m)
1= Lionel Messi - Barcelona (£18.98m)
3. Gareth Bale - Real Madrid (£18.2m)
4. Hulk Shanghai- SIPG (£16.64m)
5. Paul Pogba - Man United (£15.51m)
6. Graziano Pelle - Shangdong Lueng (£14.2m)
7. Ezequiel Lavezzi - Hebei China Fortune (£13.5m)
8. Wayne Rooney - Man United (£13.5m)
9. Neymar - Barcelona (£13.4m)
10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Man United (£13m)
Average salaries per football league (annual salary)
1. Premier League (England) - £2,438,275
2. La Liga (Spain) - £1,239,295
3. Serie A (Italy) - £1,105,633
4. Bundesliga (Germany) - £1,039,856
5. Ligue 1 (France) - £728,514
6. Super League (China) - £586,558
7. MLS (USA) - £237,116
8. J League (Japan) - £160,515
9. Premiership (Scotland) - £146,899