The choice is controversial but his influence is “undeniable”: Donald Trump is 2017’s most powerful person in sport.
SportsBusiness Journal has made the US President number one on its list of the 50 most influential people in sports business thanks to his “angry, loud and visceral rhetoric” that has divided the industry and caused “massive reaction, response and reflection”.
Trump has been a vocal critic of the NFL and its players who protested during the US anthem. He has used Twitter to hit out against anyone ‘taking a knee’.
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Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who is number 50 on the list, has been on the receiving end of many Trump twitterings as have NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Golden State basketball star Stephen Curry and broadcasters ESPN.
Writing an editorial to explain the decision, SportsBusiness Journal executive editor Abraham D. Madkour said that Trump’s influence – positive or negative –meant that the sports industry had been “on the back foot since he arrived on the political scene”.
“This isn’t the choice we wanted to make,” said Madkour. “We debated time and again about other options and directions in which to go. It was a discussion and decision that split our newsroom unlike any I can remember.
“There are many elements about this choice that are unfortunate; the biggest being it’s not a positive for the industry we work in and cover.”
Madkour said that he wished the world of sport was “above all this rhetoric and division.” He added: “We wish the stories of what J.J. Watt, Chris Long and Doug Baldwin did, represented the biggest influencers of 2017, examples of influence that bring us together rather than pushing us apart.
“Unfortunately, we can’t in good conscience do that. This isn’t the choice we wanted to make.”
Kaepernick, at 50, and NBA star LeBron James, who is 23, were the only athletes who made the list. Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, is number two on the list and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is number three.
SportsBusiness Journal/Daily’s top 10 most influential people in sports business
- 1 Donald Trump, US President
- 2 Adam Silver, NBA commissioner
- 3 Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball commissioner
- 4 Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner
- 5 Mark Lazarus, NBC Sports & Broadcasting chairman
- 6 Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys owner
- 7 John Skipper, ESPN president
- 8 Robert Kraft, The Kraft Group founder, chairman and CEO
- 9= Ari Emanuel, Endeavor CEO
- 9= Patrick Whitesell, Endeavor executive chairman
- 10 Casey Wasserman, Wasserman chairman and CEO and LA 2028 chairman
