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— Top Influencer —
Roger Goodell
Commissioner, National Football League
Want to see influence? Despite minimal competition, the nation’s top media companies agreed this year to drastically increase their rights fees to the NFL. Want more? Remember when the second-largest pro league, the NBA, temporarily abandoned its national Thursday night doubleheader to avoid head-to-heads with “Thursday Night Football”? Those are just two illustrations of the simple fact facing every sports operator and strategist in the country: Roger Goodell moves and everybody else adjusts. In an era of micro-targeting and niche markets, the NFL is one of the few options left for a true mass-media audience. And the gap between the NFL and No. 2 is getting bigger.
Thomas Bach
President, International Olympic Committee
When Bach was reelected in March, it ensured he will remain one of the world’s most powerful sports executives through at least 2025. He has consolidated control of the Olympic movement since taking over in 2013, and the IOC has since weathered the Russian doping scandal, expanded its global sponsorship program and pulled off the herculean task of staging the postponed Tokyo Games amid the pandemic.
Gary Bettman
Commissioner, National Hockey League
Bettman and the NHL ushered in the 2021-22 season with two separate seven-year U.S. media rights deals with Disney and Turner, respectively, averaging up to an estimated $625 million annually. New team revenue streams, like helmet decals, virtual in-ice advertising and jersey patches — the latter of which will go into effect next season — will bolster club finances.
Cathy Engelbert
Commissioner, Women’s National Basketball Association
Celebrating its 25th season, the W saw its best regular-season audience on ESPN networks since 2009 and its most-viewed postseason in seven years. In her second full season with the league, Engelbert introduced the midseason Commissioner’s Cup tournament. She recently announced a new playoff format for 2022 and is looking ahead toward possible expansion.
Jim France, Lesa France Kennedy, Steve Phelps
Jim France
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NASCAR
Lesa France Kennedy
Executive Vice Chair, NASCAR
Steve Phelps
President, NASCAR
Having stabilized its most important performance indicator in TV ratings in recent years, and with a slew of major business deals and new initiatives in the works, the France family and Phelps next turn their attention to formal media rights negotiations set to start in 2023, amid whispers that informal discussions with incumbent partners have already begun.
Don Garber
Commissioner, Major League Soccer
In its 22nd season under Garber’s leadership, MLS debuted its 27th team, Austin FC, and opened soccer-specific stadiums in Austin, Cincinnati and Columbus. Franchise values continued to soar with controlling sales of Houston Dynamo FC and Orlando City SC, and the league’s first Thanksgiving Day matchup averaged 1.89 million viewers.
Rob Manfred
Commissioner, Major League Baseball
The commissioner of baseball made his bones as an MLB executive in 2002 as the labor negotiator who finally managed to broker a deal without a lockout or strike, a détente that lasted nearly 20 years. That unprecedented span of labor peace ended earlier this month, when the owners voted to lock out the players. Though no games have yet been threatened, Manfred’s legacy as commissioner could hinge on how he handles the next three months.
Jay Monahan
Commissioner, PGA Tour
Monahan’s 2021 may be defined by him going on the defensive as rival golf leagues cropped up to potentially threaten the tour. With Greg Norman’s LIV Golf Investments and the Premier Golf League ramping up pressure through the fall, Monahan made significant increases to tournament purses, as well as player bonuses, to keep his stars stateside.
Greg Sankey, Joe Castiglione, Chris Del Conte
Greg Sankey
Commissioner, Southeastern Conference
Joe Castiglione
Vice President and Athletic Director, University of Oklahoma
Chris Del Conte
Athletic Director, University of Texas
This trio pulled off the deal of the year that resulted in Oklahoma and Texas moving to the SEC. The ripples were felt across the collegiate landscape and led every FBS school to reevaluate its conference home. Sankey’s co-chair role on the NCAA transformation committee will put him in a significant position to determine the future of that body.
Adam Silver
Commissioner, National Basketball Association
Silver has shown a willingness to move when others hesitated. Publicly embracing sports betting legalization when others recoiled. Shutting down his league when others hoped to continue to play through the early days of a pandemic. Taking stands on polarizing societal issues, including those tied to race. This year, the NBA took the lead on player vaccinations and landed an eight-year, $1 billion deal for its streaming data.
Steve Simon
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Women’s Tennis Association
Simon led the WTA’s dealings with China over the safety of former doubles player Peng Shuai after her sexual assault allegations against a leading Chinese politician. Simon suspended all 11 WTA events in China and Hong Kong, no small decision given the millions of dollars in revenue those events — especially the annual WTA Finals in Shenzhen — generate for the tour.
Casey Wasserman, Kathy Carter, Sarah Hirshland
Casey Wasserman
Chairperson, LA28
Kathy Carter
Chief Executive Officer, LA28
Sarah Hirshland
Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee
These three are most responsible for shepherding the U.S. Olympic movement. Wasserman spearheads the stateside return of the Olympics, while Carter added the operational delivery of the Games to her responsibilities. Hirshland has oversight of Team USA’s athletes, who led all nations in overall and gold medals in Tokyo, and was vital to the new policy not to punish athlete protests.
Dana White
President, UFC
Perhaps the world’s most recognizable combat sports executive, White has the UFC poised to complete its best year ever financially despite it coming amid a still-smoldering pandemic. Bolstered by the resources and connections of owner Endeavor, and a deepening commitment to market its product by ESPN, White’s fighting series is coming out of the pandemic stronger than when it went in.
