ESPN President JOHN SKIPPER tops SportsBusiness Journal's annual "50 Most Influential People In Sports Business" list. Skipper this year took over for GEORGE BODENHEIMER, and ESPN "hasn't skipped a beat." He has cut "huge rights deals" with the NFL, MLB, the BCS, the ACC and Big 12, and invested "more money in the content side of the business through the launch of Grantland, the hiring of two Pulitzer Prize winners and the expansion of '30 for 30.'" Below is the complete list of this year's honorees (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/10 issue).
| MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN SPORTS BUSINESS |
| RANK | EXEC |
| 1 | ESPN President John Skipper |
| 2 | NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell |
| 3 | MLB Commissioner Bud Selig |
| 4 | NBA Commissioner David Stern |
| 5 | AEG Chair Phil Anschutz and AEG President & CEO Tim Leiweke |
| 6 | Fox Sports co-Presidents & co-COOs Eric Shanks and Randy Freer |
| 7 | The Kraft Group Founder, Chairman & CEO Robert Kraft |
| 8 | Dodgers Chair and Guggenheim Partners Founder & CEO Mark Walter |
| 9 | CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus |
| 10 | Turner Broadcasting President of Sales, Distribution & Sports David Levy |
| 11 | PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem |
| 12 | NBC Sports Group Chair Mark Lazarus |
| 13 | NASCAR CEO Brian France |
| 14 | IMG Chair & CEO Mike Dolan and
IMG Sports & Entertainment President George Pyne |
| 15 | NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman |
| 16 | Nike Brand President Charlie Denson and Nike Inc. President Mark Parker |
| 17 | IOC President Jacques Rogge |
| 18 | Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones |
| 19 | NHLPA Exec Dir Don Fehr |
| 20 | NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver |
| 21 | F1 President & CEO Bernie Ecclestone |
| 22 | Time Warner Cable Exec VP and
Chief Video & Content Officer Melinda Witmer |
| 23 | Wasserman Media Group Chair & CEO Casey Wasserman |
| 24 | MLB Exec VP/Economics & League Affairs Rob Manfred and
MLB Exec VP/Business Tim Brosnan |
| 25 | NCAA President Mark Emmert |
| 26 | Lakers Owner Jerry Buss and Exec VP/Business Operations Jeannie Buss |
| 27 | SEC Commissioner Mike Slive |
| 28 | MLS Commissioner Don Garber |
| 29 | Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany |
| 30 | A-B InBev CEO Carlos Brito and VP/Global Connections Maarten Albarda |
| 31 | CAA Sports co-Heads Michael Levine and Howard Nuchow |
| 32 | Under Armour CEO & Founder Kevin Plank |
| 33 | USOC Chair Larry Probst and CEO Scott Blackmun |
| 34 | ESPN Exec VP/ Sales & Marketing Sean Bratches |
| 35 | Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott |
| 36 | NFL Exec VP & General Counsel Jeff Pash |
| 37 | adidas Chair & CEO Herbert Hainer |
| 38 | MLB Giants President & CEO Larry Baer |
| 39 | Coca-Cola Senior VP/Marketing Alison Lewis and Senior VP/Sports & Marketing Partnerships Sharon Byers |
| 40 | Fenway Sports Group Owner John Henry |
| 41 | MillerCoors CMO Andy England and MillerCoors President & CCO Tom Long |
| 42 | NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith |
| 43 | Comcast-Spectacor Chair Ed Snider and President & COO Peter Luukko |
| 44 | MLBAM President & CEO Bob Bowman |
| 45 | StubHub CEO Chris Tsakalakis |
| 46 | NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and Proskauer Partner Bob Batterman |
| 47 | Octagon President & CEO Rick Dudley |
| 48 | NFL Giants co-Owner, President & CEO John Mara |
| 49 | Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard |
| 50 | ATP World Tour Exec Chair & President Brad Drewett |
HOW THE LIST CAME TOGETHER: SBD/SBJ Exec Editor Abraham Madkour writes about how the list is created: “As we have stated, this isn’t a list of the most powerful executives or those who had the most productive or successful years. Instead, it’s a ranking of the decision-makers who change the way sports is valued, consumed, presented and produced. … As you’ll see, influence doesn’t always yield a feel-good result or story, and some may view certain individuals as being a detriment to the overall success of sports. But the names here represent, from our point of view, the people who are driving sports at this moment in time. The list inevitably leads to head-scratching, disagreements, sometimes angry phone calls and more than its share of Monday morning quarterbacking.” Madkour lists “some of the names and rankings that may surprise you” (
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/10 issue).
