The Most Powerful Person In Sports?

[BotanyBay]

A pointless list. Define "power in sports". Then we can talk.

 

[Oldman]

A pointless list. Define "power in sports". Then we can talk.

Money. Period.

 

[TubularBills]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/lancearmstrong/8272204/Jim-White-Lance-Armstrongs-standing-with-media-at-odds-with-how-hero-worshipping-public-view-him.html

"Now he has retired there will be no more in-competition testing. Those - like the SI investigative team - who have tried to keep the spotlight on his phenomenal physical resilience may try to claim he has got away with it.

Those of us who admire everything about the man can only hope they are wrong. Because if they aren’t, for his betrayal of our admiration, Armstrong would make Tiger Woods look a model of integrity.

 

[The Hitch]

2 obvious wrong things with this list

1 its all about the US
2 its all about athletes

the powerful guys are the heads of the organisations.

Sepp Blatter is probably the most powerful unfortunately.

And considering recent IOC and Fifa decisions, Vladmir Putin is a shoe in for 2nd.
3rd Jaques Rogue


But despite Footballs power at the top, id say the players themselves dont have as much power as other athletes. Messi is famous but he has no power. Same with Etoo and Ronaldo and whoever else is mentioned.

Roger Federer is probably the most powerful athlete, because the media is so infatuated by him. He gets what he wants when he wants how he wants. His opposition to hawkeye hasnt stopped it.

Lance Armstrong was when he was at his peak. He had the power to play up races by appearing in them. As big a fan of the Giro as i am, i think he could have played it up more in the wider world, simply by 1 day saying that hes not going to defend his tour, hell go for the giro and Vuelta instead. Hes achieved some success with his attempts to play up the Tour of cali, and this is long after his peak.

Pele on the other hand and all the other footballers who tried to play up MLS in america, have failed.


Also in some countries that overdo it with football, footballers have a lot of power. People in Argentina are convinced Maradona had some divine intervention. When he dies, they are going to have a Maradona Mausoleum with his body on display at Plaza de Mayo like they did with Lenin Same with Casillias in Madrid. Though of course the best doctors in both countries are working on ways to make these guys immortal before that happens.

Anyway point is Payton Manning or whoever is not the most powerful man in sport. Not by a long shot.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

So, now every article written on the subject of sports, including one appearing in Bloomberg Businessweek and written by this guy is flippantly dismissed as "sports journalism".

Talk about losing one's compass...

you know the drill.
That guy is a Fish Hack writing for what ever fish wrap will pay him for it.

 

[MacRoadie]

2 obvious wrong things with this list

1 its all about the US
2 its all about athletes

1. Except that it's specifically a list of the most powerful athletes in American sports...

2. If you bothered to read the actual article, you'd find this nugget:

...No coaches, owners, managers, executives or retired athletes were considered...QUOTE]

So, your criticism of an article about the most powerful American athletes in American sports is that it doesn't include foreign athletes, and it doesn't include non-athletes...

 

[MacRoadie]

For those who simply looked at the list and didn't bother to actually read the article:

Tiger Woods No Longer Most Powerful U.S. Athlete

Power 100 Methodology

The off-field attributes comprise an athlete's expected endorsement potential (80 percent) and endorsement earnings (20 percent). The endorsement potential comes from Nielsen/E-Poll's N-Score, which measures an athlete's name awareness, appeal, influence, trustworthiness, overall popularity, and a number of other attributes. Endorsement data is estimated by industry experts based on comparable athletes

 

[Oldman]

For those who simply looked at the list and didn't bother to actually read the article:

Tiger Woods No Longer Most Powerful U.S. Athlete

Power 100 Methodology

That's why I responded to Botany's legit question: define "power" in sports. The article aside and as Hitch has noted, the people operating the major franchises are in power. The atheletes have none unless they amass enough cash to become a power player (Jordan, Magic Johnson). Armstrong's play to be in that company looks to be in jeopardy.
If "power" is based on pure recognition and performance you need look no farther than Muhammed Ali. His image dominated for decades. That, sadly, is in the past.

 

[MacRoadie]

That's why I responded to Botany's legit question: define "power" in sports. The article aside and as Hitch has noted, the people operating the major franchises are in power. The atheletes have none unless they amass enough cash to become a power player (Jordan, Magic Johnson). Armstrong's play to be in that company looks to be in jeopardy.
If "power" is based on pure recognition and performance you need look no farther than Muhammed Ali. His image dominated for decades. That, sadly, is in the past.

Again, the article is not entitled "The Most Powerful PEOPLE in American Sports. It is a ranking of the most powerful ATHLETES. It is exactly what it holds it's self out to be and nothing more.

While the observation that the list doesn't include ownership is clearly valid, the question of their inclusion is moot because they are being ranked.

I agree that the rankings are very transient: just look at the link to 2007 for proof.

 

[The Hitch]

1. Except that it's specifically a list of the most powerful athletes in American sports...

2. If you bothered to read the actual article, you'd find this nugget:

...No coaches, owners, managers, executives or retired athletes were considered...QUOTE]

So, your criticism of an article about the most powerful American athletes in American sports is that it doesn't include foreign athletes, and it doesn't include non-athletes...

THe thread doesnt mention that. The threads title is "The Most Powerful Person In Sports?"
and this is the op.

Nope, not Lance. Try Peyton:

Businessweek Power 100

Lance comes in at #8, between Drew Brees and Albert Pujols.


Wait, what about all those SI covers and ESPY Awards?

So no i didnt read the article. I just read that it was a list of most powerful people in sport (from you) and then looked at the list.

 

[MD FACG FACP]

Nope, not Lance. Try Peyton:

Businessweek Power 100

Lance comes in at #8, between Drew Brees and Albert Pujols.


Wait, what about all those SI covers and ESPY Awards?

Funny you should mention that. I had to laugh yesterday, I was watching sports center and they referred to Contador as a "cycler".

 

[Oldman]

Funny you should mention that. I had to laugh yesterday, I was watching sports center and they referred to Contador as a "cycler".

Well, he is. He is now in the rest portion of his steak cycle.

 

[Cobblestoned]

Again, the article is not entitled "The Most Powerful PEOPLE in American Sports. It is a ranking of the most powerful ATHLETES. It is exactly what it holds it's self out to be and nothing more.

While the observation that the list doesn't include ownership is clearly valid, the question of their inclusion is moot because they are being ranked.

I agree that the rankings are very transient: just look at the link to 2007 for proof.

dude, what are you now finally trying to say ?
Even when Armstrong is "only" on 8th, what are you trying to say ?

8th is a very good result for a cyclist with grey hair I would say.

And look, Lance is a legend. These people have their own rankings.
Besides that, if you would make this "most powerful" list worldwide, you can be sure that LA will climb up to top 5.
Which is again a good result for cycling.

So, what are you trying to say ? Did someone post that Lance is the most powerful athlet and your are screaming out so loud now because of that ?

Is this all ?

 

[Sanitiser]

I don't get the point of this thread. Is it to say Lance is too big too fail? Or is it to say Lance is big enough to be made an example of?

 

[BotanyBay]

True "power" in sports is certainly attainable, but it's rarely a good investment.

The "real" power is almost always shared amongst the owners / operators of leagues. So I hesitate to chase the folly of trying to identify the most "powerful" person.

What's powerful to a European football player is meaningless to a professional rodeo cowboy in the USA.

 

[MacRoadie]

I don't get the point of this thread. Is it to say Lance is too big too fail? Or is it to say Lance is big enough to be made an example of?

The point is real simple.

For all the "Lance is so awesome he's the most beloved human being on earth with the most influence and the most powerful friends", when a totally disinterested party, especially one that makes their living by guaging the popularity of a personality for purposes of selling image, advertising and sponsorships, develops an analysis of "powerful" US althletes, Armstrong comes in behind 2 golfers (one an adulterer), 2 NFL players, and one 40-something NBA "star"...

 

[BotanyBay]

Remember this when considering "who is most powerful". Tiger was able to manage negative press before the golf-club. Lance was able to manage a fair bit of his own negative press.

But very few human beings can control the actions of another person. In general, if you've been "controlled", it's been a decision you yourself chose to make.

Control is not something you exert over another. Control is something you surrender to another.

 

[Cobblestoned]

The point is real simple.

For all the "Lance is so awesome he's the most beloved human being on earth with the most influence and the most powerful friends", when a totally disinterested party, especially one that makes their living by guaging the popularity of a personality for purposes of selling image, advertising and sponsorships, develops an analysis of "powerful" US althletes, Armstrong comes in behind 2 golfers (one an adulterer), 2 NFL players, and one 40-something NBA "star"...

Thank you. So i was correct.

 

[MacRoadie]

Remember this when considering "who is most powerful". Tiger was able to manage negative press before the golf-club. Lance was able to manage a fair bit of his own negative press.

But very few human beings can control the actions of another person. In general, if you've been "controlled", it's been a decision you yourself chose to make.

Control is not something you exert over another. Control is something you surrender to another.

I really don't understand why everyone is getting hung up on the "Most Powerful" aspect.

That they didn't include Europeans or sports executives is entirely meaningless.

The point is that a sports marketing firm, specializing in the analysis of a sports personality's merchantability created a metric to compare American athletes to one another. The result of that process led to their ranking of Armstrong down at eighth place on their list. Not too far from falling from the top-ten, and one spot ahead of a baseball player that is hrdley ever in much advertising to begin with.

The point I was trying to make (and apparently very poorly), ir that when Armstrong is comared to other athletes, his relative value to the sports marketing community isn't nearly as high as some would lead us to believe.

Additionally, one component of their admittedly unscientific ratings methodology includes some measure of morality and honesty. Rightly or wrongly, those guys make their living by providing guidance to potential advertisers and giving them insight into the value of a given athlete's endorsing power.

To put it extremely simply, if those guys were to recommend an American athlete to an advertiser based on their analysis of current athlete's merchantability, then Armstrong would be the eighth guy down the list.

 

[Sanitiser]

If it was a multinational company and they wanted a 'global spokesperson' it would be him or Tiger all things considered.

 

[MacRoadie]

If it was a multinational company and they wanted a 'global spokesperson' it would be him or Tiger all things considered.

I don't disagree. I might even put him ahead of Tiger as Tiger's guilt is more or less known while Armstrong's is yet to be denied or confirmed.

The question is how does his (potential) falling popularity amongst non-cycling Americans affect whatever influence his camp may want to excercise with sponsors, legislators, public opinion, etc.

At the end of the day, as he is being investigated in the US, how the public perceives him here is all that matters in the immediate future.

 

[Sanitiser]

At the end of the day, as he is being investigated in the US, how the public perceives him here is all that matters in the immediate future.

I disagree the UCI, Wada and public reaction abroad will also be taken into account.

 

[mikeNphilly]

Nope, not Lance. Try Peyton:

Businessweek Power 100

Lance comes in at #8, between Drew Brees and Albert Pujols.


Wait, what about all those SI covers and ESPY Awards?

Well the 4 straight ESPY awards, he won...he being the only athlete besides Tigers woods to win multiple athlete of the year awards, has helped propel him in marketing into the top 10 of the of the biggest money making, most recognizable, most marketed athletes in the US...the largest TV audience pool in the world. Was there even another cyclist on this list, was to busy to go through the whole list.

Gah two threads in a week where I have to educate you guys on how things work in sports marketing..and I don't even like LA.

Ok back to trying to get my Warcraft account back from hackers, I have a bunch of high level, gearless/goldless Nightelves to save.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Thread closed at the request of the OP, and probably a mercy killing given that people seemed to have totally different ideas about the exact intention of the thread.