The Saints Come Marching In: Drew Brees Tops Annual Top Power 100 List

Wednesday night’s edition of Bloomberg TV’s “Sportfolio” with host Rick Horrow featured the “Top Power 100” from the business of sports, an “elite list of athletes who combine power on the field with clout in the marketplace.” Saints QB Drew Brees topped the list, followed by Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Patriots QB Tom Brady. The NFL led with 26 players and 11 different sports were represented in the Power 100 list this year. Horrow said the list “is an annual collaboration between Bloomberg Businessweek and Horrow Sports Ventures” and it is “not a poll or a popularity contest.” Patriots President Jonathan Kraft said of Brady, “He’s the ultimate leader.” Kraft said off the field, Brady “has a charisma about him ... and he just exudes a high-grade of integrity and class. If you’re a company or a brand that’s looking for somebody to be your spokesperson, I don’t think you can do any better than Tom Brady.” Kraft said having a “stable, consistent presence under center ... brings a credibility to your franchise that franchises that don’t have quarterbacks like that really are lacking and that means people are willing to invest.” Angels 1B Albert Pujols was the highest-ranking MLBer at No. 26, and analyst Summer Sanders said, “For a baseball player to breakthrough, you need another Derek Jeter or you need a player to get on ‘Dancing With The Stars.’ That’s just a fact. It’s the way athletes are staying and remaining in the top 10. It’s either performance or staying in front of everybody’s eyes.” Penguins C Sidney Crosby, who has missed nearly an entire season due to the after effects of a concussion, did not appear in the Top 100, and Legends Chair & CEO Dave Checketts said being injured “hurt him on the list." Checketts: "In terms of his talent, his ability, his marketability, he should be in the Top 100.” Sanders noted she was surprised Broncos QB Tim Tebow was not in the top 100, adding, “I expect to see him well in the Top 100 (next year)" (“Sportfolio,” Bloomberg TV, 1/25).

POCKET PRESENCE: ESPN.com’s Kristi Dosh examined the marketability of the two Super Bowl QBs -- the Patriots' Brady and the Giants' Eli Manning -- and noted it is “difficult to judge which star quarterback ... will win off the field.” Brady has “Hollywood looks, a supermodel wife, and an edge in endorsement deals to date, but Manning is part of a family that’s football royalty and is not as far behind in big-dollar deals as fans might think.” Brady made “about $10 million in endorsements in 2011, and Manning about $7 million.” Marketing Evaluations Exec VP Henry Schafer said that Manning “comes out on top with the general public.” His positive Q Score, which “measures likeability, is a 19,” while an average Q Score for an athlete “is 15, which is what Brady rates.” Nielsen Sports VP Stephen Master said that Brady’s national advertisements have “increased over the past couple of years, but he says Eli Manning has a strong local presence in the New York area.” Master: “Eli probably does the most local ads after” Yankees SS Derek Jeter (ESPN.com, 1/26).