Ray Rice video: Disgraced NFL player could lose $10million over leaked domestic abuse video

A CCTV film of the incident was released earlier this week

Ray Rice (Getty Images)

Ray Rice faces losing $10million after having his Baltimore Ravens contract cancelled over footage showing him attacking his then fiancée.

Rice is seen to strike Janay Palmer in the face on 15 February this year at the Revel Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. Palmer retaliates, before Rice hits her a second time in the face, knocking her unconscious. The couple were married in March.

The NFL first banned the sportsman for two games, before cancelling his contract altogether – which could result in significant financial loss.

In 2013, Forbes ranked Rice as the world’s 33rd highest-paid athlete due to his five-year $40million contract with the Ravens, first signed in 2012. The publication estimated that in 2013 he earned $24.2million in salary and bonuses, as well as $1.6million in endorsements from brands such as Nike – which has already severed ties with the player.

In addition to the remaining $10million of his salary that he will not be paid, Rice has also lost his annuity he would have been likely to have received for “the rest of his life” as a NFL player.

“There is a value to that where you can go to every autograph show and get paid for appearances, which is easy money, and a personable guy like Ray Rice had that coming to him after he retired,” Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes tells E! News.

“Potentially that income of $500,000 to $1 million a year every year for the rest of his life is gone. I think that is the big blow in addition to the $10 million in salary."

Palmer has since defended her husband’s actions on Instagram, describing coverage of the incident as “horrific”.