Durant, Spieth named to ESPN ‘World Fame 100’

2018 ESPN 'World Fame 100' Listing

AUSTIN, Texas — Former University of Texas stars Kevin Durant and Jordan Spieth are both ranked among the Top 16 athletes in ESPN's 2018 'World Fame 100,' the network's third annual ranking of the biggest names in sports. Durant ranks number 7, while Spieth checks in at number 16. The University of Texas is the only NCAA institution represented by a pair of athletes in the Top 20 of the network's rankings.

ESPN's Sports Analytics Group started with 600 of the biggest names in sports, drawn from 68 countries, and ranked them based on a proprietary formula that took into account three fame factors:

Search Score – How often a name is searched, using Cristiano Ronaldo's score of 100 as a basline
Endorsement Dollars – ESPN's sources ranged from Forbes to ESPN contributors such as Darren Rovell
Social Media Followers – Since not all athletes are on every platform, ESPN used only the number from the athlete's most popular account.

The deadline for all underlying metrics was March 19. The currency conversions were done by that date.

Durant, who earned consensus National Player of the Year honors at Texas during the 2006-07 season, is currently in his 11th season in the NBA and his second year with the Golden State Warriors. The 2014 Kia Most Valuable Player and 2017 NBA Finals MVP, he is a nine-time NBA All-Star selection. Durant registered a search score of 45, endorsements totaling $36 million and his official Twitter account has 17.5 million followers.

Spieth, who earned first-team All-America honors while leading the Longhorns to the 2012 NCAA Team Championship, is currently in his seventh year on the PGA TOUR. A 14-time PGA TOUR winner and the 2015 PGA TOUR Player of the Year, Spieth already owns three major championship victories: 2015 The Masters, 2015 U.S. Open and 2017 Open Championship. He registered a search score of 18, endorsements totaling $32 million and his official Twitter account has 1.9 million followers.

Top 20 in the 2018 ESPN 'World Fame 100'

Rank	Athlete	Sport	Country / College
1.	Cristiano Ronaldo	Soccer	Portugal
2.	LeBron James	Basketball	USA
3.	Lionel Messi	Soccer	Argentina
4.	Neymar	Soccer	Brazil
5.	Roger Federer	Tennis	Switzerland
6.	Tiger Woods	Golf	USA / Stanford
7.	Kevin Durant	Basketball	USA / TEXAS
8.	Rafael Nadal	Tennis	Spain
9.	Stephen Curry	Basketball	USA / Davidson
10.	Phil Mickelson	Golf	USA / Arizona State
11.	Virat Kohli	Cricket	India
12.	Serena Williams	Tennis	USA
13.	Novak Djokovic	Tennis	Serbia
14.	Floyd Mayweather	Boxing	USA
15.	Rory McIlroy	Golf	Northern Ireland
16.	Jordan Spieth	Golf	USA / TEXAS
17.	Sun Yang	Swimming	China
18.	Conor McGregor	MMA	Ireland
19.	Gareth Bale	Soccer	Wales
20.	MS Dhoni	Cricket	India

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics

Durant, Spieth named to ESPN ‘World Fame 100’