'King James' surpasses Tiger

New York - Forbes Magazine estimates LeBron James has replaced Tiger Woods as the athlete with the top brand value.

The magazine said on Tuesday the brand of the Cleveland Cavaliers star is worth $37 million, which is the amount his endorsement and non-basketball earnings exceed the average of the NBA’s top 10.

Woods had topped athletes on Forbes’ Fab 40 list each year since 2007.

Nike is estimated to be the most valuable sports business brand, with its worth pegged at $19 billion. Forbes said the value of the name increases Nike’s worth from $52 billion to $71 billion.

Forbes estimates the Super Bowl has the top event brand value at $500 million. The New York Yankees have the most valuable team brand at $521-million, which Forbes says is about one-fifth of the team’s enterprise value.

 The top 10 biggest athlete brands in world sport and their value in 2014:

1. LeBron James - $37 million
2. Tiger Woods -$36 million
3. Roger Federer - $32 million
4. Phil Mickelson - $29 million
5. Mahendra Singh Dhoni - $20 million
6. Usain Bolt - $19 million
7. Cristiano Ronaldo - $17 million
8. Kobe Bryant - $15 million
9. Lionel Messi - $12 million
10. Rafael Nadal - $10 million