BusinessWeek will release its first-ever listing of the Top 100 most powerful people in sports in its Oct. 8 edition, and Michael Vick tops the list.
OK, no he doesn't. The top honor actually went to Vick's best friend and business associate, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
I wonder how long it took to determine that Goodell was the most powerful man in sports. I can imagine the conversation among writers and editors going something like this:
BusinessWeek editor: "What's the most popular and powerful sports league?"
Poorly paid editorial assistant: "The NFL"
Editor: "Who's the head of the NFL?"
PPEA: "Roger Goodell."
Editor: "Ok, 99 more to go."
The BusinessWeek "Power 100" was put together in conjunction with ESPN the Magazine and (surprise!) there are FIVE execs from ESPN on the list. The list has most of the big names you'd expect; I can't think of any terrible glaring omissions, though I might have included MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Indy driver Danica Patrick and Jimmie Lee Solomon from Major League Baseball. I take issue with few inclusions (three ESPN execs would have sufficed. And why is Omar Minaya on here?) but it's a good list, overall.
Tiger Woods is No. 2 on the "Power 100," NBA Commissioner David Stern is No. 3 and ESPN head honcho George Bodenheimer is No. 4. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig rounds out the top five.
The top five athletes on the list are Woods, followed by Michael Jordan (11), Peyton Manning (13), David Beckham (17) and LeBron James (19.) The top-ranked woman is Katie Bayne, a vice president with Coca-Cola.
Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is ranked 40th, sandwiched in between fellow media-hater Barry Bonds and Derek Jeter. 'Skins coach and NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs is 93rd, right in between Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and NBA executive Heidi Ueberroth. (Amazingly, Gibbs is the 93rd-most powerful man in sports and he can't figure out how to score on a first and goal from the one yard line.)
BusinessWeek won't release their methodology until the issue comes out. I'm curious to see it, because I wonder how one actually determines that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is more powerful than George Steinbrenner.
-- Tim Lemke
