The 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business

The who’s who behind the world of sports.

Sports
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This week Sports Business Daily has curated a list of the 50 most influential people and companies in sports business. The site is a daily trade publication dedicated to the business of sports, covering sponsorships, endorsements, labor relations, licensing, team ownership, stadiums, and so much more. Many of the names below shouldn’t be much of a surprise for most fans, including NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who takes the #1 spot, ahead of Bob Iger and John Skipper of Walt Disney and ESPN, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

For more on the list of names, click here to read each individual’s short bio.

1. Adam Silver, NBA
2. Bob Iger, The Walt Disney Co. / John Skipper, ESPN
3. Roger Goodell, NFL
4. Ari Emanuel / Patrick Whitesell, WME-IMG
5. Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball
6. Mark Lazarus, NBC Sports Group
7. David Levy, Turner Broadcasting System
8. Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys
9. Bob Bowman, Major League Baseball
10. Gary Bettman, NHL
11. Sean McManus, CBS Sports
12. Robert Kraft, The Kraft Group
13. Eric Shanks, Fox Sports
14. Trevor Edwards, Nike Brand / Mark Parker, Nike Inc.
15. Casey Wasserman, Wasserman
16. Kevin Plank, Under Armour
17. Phil Anschutz, AEG
18. Joe Lacob / Peter Guber, Golden State Warriors
19. Don Garber, Major League Soccer
20. Ted Leonsis, Monumental Sports & Entertainment
21. Wang Jianlin, Dalian Wanda Group
22. Dan Gilbert, Cleveland Cavaliers
23. Brian France, NASCAR
24. Michael Levine / Howard Nuchow, CAA Sports
25. Thomas Bach, International Olympic Committee
26. Tod Leiweke / Jeff Pash, NFL
27. Jay Monahan, PGA Tour
28. Michele Roberts, National Basketball Players Association
29. Michael Rubin, Fanatics / Kinetic
30. Stan Kroenke, Kroenke Sports Enterprises
31. Jim Delany, Big Ten Conference
32. Joe Leccese / Bob Batterman, Proskauer
33. Jorn Socquet / Marcel Marcondes, Anheuser-Busch InBev
34. DeMaurice Smith, NFL Players Association
35. Sandy Douglas, Coca-Cola North America / Bea Perez, Coca-Cola
36. Tony Clark, Major League Baseball Players Association
37. Larry Probst/ Scott Blackmun, U.S. Olympic Committee
38. Anthony Noto, Twitter
39. Josh Harris / David Blitzer, Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils
40. Mark Emmert, NCAA
41. Arthur Blank, Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC
42. Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard
43. Gregg Levy / Doug Gibson, Covington
44. Indra Nooyi / Adam Harter, PepsiCo
45. Mark Davis, Oakland Raiders
46. George Pyne, Bruin Sports Capital
47. Dan Reed, Facebook
48. Val Ackerman, Big East Conference
49. Bryan Trubey, HKS
50. Theo Epstein, Chicago Cubs

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