The 10th annual SportsBusiness Daily/SportsBusiness Journal Reader Survey is in the books, and more than 1,000 voters weighed in on nearly 100 questions that spanned all facets of the industry. Voting was conducted over three weeks starting Oct. 13, with polling via SportsBusinessDaily.com and SportsBusinessJournal.com. Only the top vote-getters are listed. Our thanks here to Turnkey Sports & Entertainment, which again this year provided the technical and surveying support to make this effort possible. Of course, we also thank you. Whether you’re a first-time voter or a 10-time voter, these are your results. Today, we present data on the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL.
Most effective team owner:
| Robert Kraft (New England Patriots) |
38% |
| Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys) |
11% |
| Publicly owned, nonprofit corp. (Green Bay Packers) |
10% |
Responses: 747
Robert Kraft has been the top vote-getter in all but one of the 10 surveys we’ve conducted so far, topped only by Jerry Jones in 2010, a year removed from opening the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium.
Least effective team owner:
| Mark Davis (Oakland Raiders) |
19% |
| Daniel Snyder (Washington Redskins) |
15% |
| Woody Johnson (N.Y. Jets) |
13% |
| Shahid Khan (Jacksonville Jaguars) |
12% |
Responses: 733
Sponsors that do the best job activating around the NFL:
| Anheuser-Busch (Bud Light) |
48% |
| Papa John’s |
36% |
| Microsoft (Surface tablets, Xbox) |
23% |
| Gatorade |
20% |
Responses: 737
Note: Respondents could make three selections.
Will Roger Goodell still be NFL commissioner five years from now?
Responses: 772
Will the recent cases of player behavior, and the league’s handling of those cases, have a negative effect on the NFL’s long-term business?
Responses: 770
rich arden / espn images
Biggest threat to the long-term success of the NFL:
| Concussions |
36% |
| Player discipline issues |
20% |
| Rising costs for attending games |
15% |
| Improved technology for at-home viewing |
14% |
Responses: 769
“Concussions” and “player discipline issues” didn’t even crack the top five of issues highlighted by voters in the early years of the survey. In year one, it was “reaching a new collective-bargaining agreement,” followed in 2006 with “addressing the economic disparity among teams.” “Concussions” started showing up on the radar in the 2011 survey, when that was ranked third among the top issues facing the league. By 2012’s survey, “concussions” had moved to the top spot. Last year, “concussions” maintained that position, while “player discipline issues” was a distant fifth.
In the past five years, NFL team that has shown the most innovation in its business practices:
| Dallas Cowboys |
23% |
| Seattle Seahawks |
17% |
| San Francisco 49ers |
15% |
Responses: 709
In the 2009 survey readers were predicting an expanded season for the NFL, with 40% predicting two more regular-season games within the next five years and 29% expecting one more regular-season game to be added. However, 31% correctly predicted that the schedule would remain the same.
Should the Washington Redskins change their name?
Responses: 768
