Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal in their special report lists The 50 most influential people in sports business. Oh, cut the crap and just say businessmen ’cause I didn’t see any women on the list.
George Bodenheimer, prez of ESPN and ABC Sports heads the list. Bud Selig came in at sixth.
Two points of contention…
I would have raised Bob Bowman, president and CEO of MLB Advanced Media from his position of 29 on this list. I’m not exactly a fan of Bowman with his digital rights managements issues but no one can argue what he has done for MLB in the past few years. He’s brought video (and audio) content to the fans, developed a high quality web site for the game of baseball and now he’s going to set up a network for the game (that major cable systems will actually carry).
Scott Boras is at 42. Is there any business man in baseball who holds such influence in where many players play, how much they make and how long they play? He sets the bar for the players he represents and in turn, the ones he doesn’t. Again, not necessarily a fan but I’m surprised to see him ranked so low.