NEW YORK, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Golfer Tiger Woods, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and NBA Commissioner David Stern top BusinessWeek's second annual "The Power 100" ranking of the 100 most powerful people in sports. LeBron James ranks as the top NBA athlete at No. 17, 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps debuts on the list at No. 42, and Danica Patrick, Indy Racing League driver, is the highest-ranked female on the list at No. 50.
Measuring individual power in a global industry as diverse as sports isn't easy. But for the second year in a row, a panel of experts has done just that for BusinessWeek, ranking the 100 most powerful Americans in sports. This year, BusinessWeek also asked them to do something else: choose the industry's 25 most influential people in sports outside the U.S., which includes Joseph Blatter, President of FIFA (No. 1), David Beckham (No. 5), and Roger Federer (No. 9).
The 35 panelists include athletes, executives, marketers, writers, and academics. To get the ball rolling, BusinessWeek supplied the judges with 300 names and asked them for their top 20. They were also given some guidance, suggesting they make their picks based on how each individual rates vs. his or her peers; how much money each controls, generates, or influences; and the breadth and staying power of their impact. Fans were invited to cast votes on BusinessWeek.com and their cumulative vote counted as the final panelist.
"The Power 100" is featured in BusinessWeek's October 13th issue, available on newsstands Friday, October 3. Expanded content, including profiles, exclusive videos and slideshows, and the full methodology of the ranking, will be available online at http://www.businessweek.com/power100.
"The Power 100" 1 Tiger Woods Golfer 2 Roger Goodell Commissioner, NFL 3 David Stern Commissioner, NBA 4 George Bodenheimer President, ESPN 5 Dick Ebersol Chairman, NBC Sports 6 Phil Knight Chairman, Nike 7 Allan "Bud " Selig Commissioner, MLB 8 Brian France Chairman and CEO, Nascar 9 Michael Jordan NBA great; minority owner, Charlotte Bobcats 10 Sean McManus President, CBS News and Sports 11 David Hill Chairman and CEO, Fox Sports 12 Rupert Murdoch Chairman and CEO, News Corp. 13 Myles Brand President, NCAA 14 Tony Ponturo VP, global media and sports marketing, Anheuser- Busch 15 Lance Armstrong Tour de France cyclist 16 Theodore Forstmann Chairman and CEO, IMG 17 LeBron James Forward, Cleveland Cavaliers 18 Donald Fehr Executive Director, Major League Baseball Players Assn. 19 Steinbrenner Family Principal owner, New York Yankees 20 John Henry Owner, Boston Red Sox; co-owner, Roush Fenway Racing 21 Gary Bettman Commissioner, NHL 22 Philip Anschutz Founder, Anschutz Entertainment Group; Co-owner, Los Angeles Kings 23 Tim Leiweke CEO, Anschutz Entertainment Group 24 Robert Kraft Owner, New England Patriots 25 Brian Roberts Chairman and CEO, Comcast 26 Jerry Jones Owner and General Manager, Dallas Cowboys 27 Tim Finchem Commissioner, PGA Tour 28 Kobe Bryant Guard, Los Angeles Lakers 29 Peyton Manning Quarterback, Indianapolis Colts 30 John Skipper EVP, content, ESPN 31 Mark Parker President and CEO, Nike 32 Ed Goren President, Fox Sports 33 Malcolm Glazer Owner, Manchester United, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34 Tom Brady Quarterback, New England Patriots 35 Jeff Urban Senior Vice-President, sports marketing, Gatorade 36 Paul Allen Owner, Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers 37 Scott Boras President, Scott Boras Group 38 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nascar driver 39 Peter Ueberroth Chairman, U.S. Olympic Committee 40 Chase Carey CEO and President, DirecTV 41 Rick Dudley President and CEO, Octagon 42 Michael Phelps Swimmer 43 George Pyne President, IMG Sports & Entertainment 44 Mark Cuban Owner, Dallas Mavericks, HDNet 45 Alex Rodriguez Third baseman, New York Yankees 46 Casey Wasserman CEO, Wasserman Media Group; Owner and CEO, Los Angeles Avengers 47 Jack Nicklaus PGA great; partner, Nicklaus Design; owner, Nicklaus Golf Equipment 48 Mark Ford President, Sports Illustrated Group 49 Bob DuPuy President and Chief Operating Officer, Major League Baseball 50 Danica Patrick Indy Racing League driver 51 Derek Jeter Shortstop, New York Yankees 52 Sidney Crosby Center and captain, Pittsburgh Penguins 53 Adam Silver Deputy Commissioner and COO, NBA 54 John Madden NFL commentator; video game icon 55 David Levy President, Turner Broadcasting Sales and Turner Sports 56 Andre Agassi Tennis great 57 Tony Hawk Skateboarder; video game icon 58 Earvin "Magic" Johnson NBA Hall of Famer; Chairman and CEO, Magic Johnson Enterprises 59 John Riccitiello CEO, Electronic Arts 60 Jerry Colangelo Chairman and CEO, Phoenix Suns; National Director, USA Basketball 61 Dana White President, Ultimate Fighting Championship 62 Gene Orza COO, Major League Baseball Players Assn. 63 Don Garber Commissioner, MLS; CEO, Soccer United Marketing 64 Jim Nash Managing Director, sports advisory practice, Bank of America 65 Wayne Gretzky Hockey great; part-owner and head coach, Phoenix Coyotes 66 Ross Greenberg President, HBO Sports 67 Mike Ilitch Owner, Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers 68 Jack Roush CEO and co-owner, Roush Fenway Racing 69 Jeff Pash Executive Vice-President and General Counsel, NFL 70 Tom Condon NFL agent, CAA 71 Mike Helton President, Nascar 72 John Walsh Senior Vice-President and Executive Editor, ESPN 73 David Berson Executive Vice-President, program planning and development, ESPN 74 Katie Bayne Chief Marketing Officer, Coca-Cola North America 75 Lesa France Kennedy President, International Speedway 76 Arlen Kantarian CEO, United States Tennis Assn. 77 Pat Bowlen Owner and CEO, Denver Broncos 78 Christine Driessen CFO and Executive Vice-President, ESPN 79 Tony Vinciquerra Chairman and President, Fox Networks Group 80 Richard Petty Nascar legend, team owner 81 Rooney family Owner, Pittsburgh Steelers 82 Tim Brosnan Executive Vice-President, business operations, MLB 83 Bob Bowman CEO, MLB advanced media 84 Greg Carey and Joe Ravitch Managing Directors, Goldman Sachs 85 Dave Morgan Executive Editor, Yahoo! Sports 86 Jim Delany Commissioner, Big Ten 87 Randy Freer COO, Fox Sports Net 88 Steve Bornstein CEO, NFL Network; EVP of media, NFL 89 Wycliffe Grousbeck Owner and CEO, Boston Celtics 90 Roger Penske Rounder and Chairman, Penske Corp. 91 Colin Baden President, Oakley 92 Robert Johnson Majority owner, Charlotte Bobcats 93 Mike Slive Commissioner, Southeastern Conference 94 Stan Kroenke Owner, Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets; part-owner, St. Louis Rams 95 Kevin Plank Founder and CEO, Under Armour 96 Ray Bednar Senior Vice-President and Sports Sponsorship Executive, Bank of America 97 Eric Grubman Executive Vice-President, finance and strategic transactions, NFL 98 Arn Tellem President, WMG Management 99 Jon Litner President, Comcast Sports Group 100 Serena Williams Tennis champ
