ISC's Lesa France Kennedy Ranks As Sports' Most Powerful Woman

France Kennedy Plays Big Role In Most ISC Acquisitions

ISC Vice Chair & CEO LESA FRANCE KENNEDY "stuck with the family business," and now she is the "most powerful woman in sports," according to a ranking by Tom Van Riper of FORBES. France Kennedy "represents the generation that has succeeded in taking NASCAR mainstream," and her 26-year career at ISC "spans a period that expanded the sport past its Southern base, with new racetracks built in Chicago and upstate New York, plus the acquisition of five tracks from Roger Penske." Analysts said that she has "played a big role in most all of the company's acquisitions and improvement projects dating back to the 1990s." Van Riper wrote "no female sports executive oversees a bigger operation," and "that's the Forbes criteria for powerful sports business women: Money, plain and simple." Van Riper: "Those whose decisions affect the largest sports-related revenue streams -- be they from teams, leagues or corporate sponsors -- hold the most sway." Van Riper noted the list is "confined to those running enterprises with proven sustained profits," and it also omits "those who just recently came into an ownership role through an inheritance" (FORBES.com, 10/14). YAHOO SPORTS' Jay Busbee wrote Kennedy's ranking is a "high honor and yet another sign that NASCAR has gone from backwoods bootlegging to a major national sports player" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/15).

MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN SPORTS
RANK	NAME	ANNUAL SPORTS REVENUE
1	ISC Vice Chair & CEO Lesa France Kennedy	$750M
2	WWE COO Donna Goldsmith	$525M
3	NBA President of Global Marketing Partnerships & Int’l Business Operations Heidi Ueberroth	$300M
4	Coca-Cola North America CMO Katie Bayne	$260M
5	Bears Principal Owner Virginia McCaskey	$241M
6	Dodgers CEO Jamie McCourt	$240M
7	Saints co-Owner & Exec VP Rita Benson LeBlanc	$232M
8	49ers co-Owner Denise DeBartolo York	$214M
9	SUM Exec VP Kathryn Carter	$100M
10	Gatorade CMO Sarah Robb O'Hagan	$90M
11	Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Chair & CEO Stacey Allaster	$86M*

NOTE: * = total tour prize money