According to Sportingintelligence’s Global Sports Salaries Survey (GSSS) for 2016, United sit fourth in the list.
The Premier League giants rose from sixth, with their average annual first-team pay now around £5.77m.
That still leaves them behind the Cavs (£6.54m), MLB’s New York Yankees (£5.81) and NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers (£5.78).
But it marked the first time in the survey’s seven-year history that United have topped all other football clubs.
The arrivals of star names Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba have had an impact, but United sit sixth in the Premier League.
LaLiga champions Barcelona (£5.64m) and United’s rivals Manchester City (£5.42m) were the only other football outfits in the top 10.
