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Tiger Woods is still the world’s most valuable athlete brand despite the scandal that has engulfed his private life, according to Forbes.

Woods tops the business magazine’s annual ‘Fab 40’ list with an estimated value of $82m even though he has not been seen in public since admitting “infidelity” in December last year.

The world’s No 1 golfer, who is taking an indefinite break from the sport, was dropped by several sponsors – including Accenture, AT&T; and Tag Heuer – after it was alleged he had a string of extramarital affairs.

However, his value on the latest Forbes list was still larger than that of the next five athletes combined. Footballer David Beckham ($20m), tennis player Roger Federer ($16m), NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr ($14m) and National Basketball Association stars LeBron James and Kobe Bryant ($13m and $12m respectively) made up the top six.

Other sponsors such as Nike and Electronic Arts vowed to stand by Woods through his problems.

The most valuable team brand in the Forbes list is English football club Manchester United, worth an estimated $270m, just ahead of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees at $266m.

The National Football League's Super Bowl game was the top the sports events list with an estimated value of $420m, beating the Olympic Games ($230m) and the Fifa World Cup ($120m), the magazine said.

Nike was the leading brand in the business category ($10.7bn), ahead of Walt Disney Co's ESPN brand ($10.5bn), according to Forbes. Adidas AG, PepsiCo Inc's Gatorade and Adidas-owned brand Reebok made up the top five.

Forbes said it ranked athletes based on endorsement income relative to peers in their sport; businesses based on the amount of the enterprise's private market value attributable to its name; teams based on the portion of their overall value not a result of market demographics and league; and events based on revenue generated per day of competition.