Who are the most powerful people in college sports? Overseeing a 14-school league with more than 7,000 student-athletes and combined annual revenues of more than $1.5 billion dollars, Big Ten Conference Commissioner Jim Delany has cemented himself atop Forbes list of most influential people in college sports.
As head of America's oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference, Delany, 67, has played a central role in college sports' seemingly exponential growth in popularity and revenue over the last three decades. Taking over as commissioner of the Big Ten in 1989, many credit Delany for single-handedly starting and stopping major conference realignment. Delany first led the Big Ten's expansion with Penn State in 1990, followed by the Nebraska in 2011 and most recently Maryland and Rutgers in 2014.
With an ever-growing footprint came more households, and subsequently the launch of the the Big Ten Network - the first television property dedicated solely to a college athletics conference. With the conference's primary television rights set to expire in 2016-2017, industry experts estimate Delany is poised to negotiate the largest media rights deals in the history of college sports, one that could end up netting each of the conference's 14 member institutions more than $50 million a year!
Delany has also been a vocal figure when it comes to the preservation of the traditional amateur athletics model. With the NCAA's future uncertain, Delany is certain to play a critical role in helping college athletics navigate the turbulent waters of change, a big reason why a panel of college sports insiders ranked him first on this list of The 25 Most Powerful People In College Sports. (See the methodology for the list at the bottom of this article.)
Coming in second is Mark Emmert, who was appointed President of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2010. A former university president and chancellor, Emmert's tenure as the head of college athletics' governing body has been tumultuous to say the least.
Between a slew of anti-trust lawsuits including O'Bannon v. NCAA and Jenkins v. NCAA that threatened to fundamentally change the very business model of amateur athletics, as well as movement by Power 5 conferences towards deregulation and increased autonomy, many believe that Emmert's power and influence over the direction of college athletics is considerably lesser than any president that came before him.
That being said, most collegiate administrators believe that he has done an admirable job of handling the seemingly relentless barrage of attacks, though his legacy will likely be defined by his leadership in the coming decade.
In third is John Skipper, President of
In addition, ESPN and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) announced a 20-year agreement to create and operate the ESPN SEC Network and digital platforms, while extending the existing media rights agreement through 2034. There is no bigger single source of revenue for college athletics than ESPN's dollars, and it's Skipper that controls the purse strings.
In an industry that generates more than $6 billion a year in collective revenues, power and influence in college sports can be garnered from any number of positions and roles.
Our list includes: six athletic directors (No. 4. Kevin White, No. 7. Jack Swarbrick) six conference commissioners (No. 5. Bob Bowlsby, No. 8 Larry Scott), three head coaches (No. 15 Nick Saban, No. 17. Urban Meyer), two full-time attorneys (No. 18 Jeffery Kessler, No. 23. Donald Remy), as well as two billionaire apparel executives (No. 12. Kevin Plank, No. 16. Phil Knight) among others. The latter two also have the widest age difference on the list of 34 years. Just two women make our list (No. 20. Val Ackerman and No. 24. Sandy Barbour), while 21 of the 25 hold advanced degrees.
It is worth noting that, while college sports employs tens of thousands of individuals, unlike many other industries of comparable size, power and influence can often be defined in tangible ways. Indeed, because the NCAA is nothing more than a collection of some 1,281 colleges and universities, and each institution and conference has some say in the association's policies, those that can whip the most votes in one direction or the other tend to dictate the direction of the industry as a whole. That is why it is no coincidence that the list is populated by the commissioners and athletic directors of the most wealthy conferences and universities. Fortunately, the individuals that have risen to positions of influence and power in college sports are, without question, some of the most well-educated and experienced business minds around.
Full List: The Most Powerful People In College Sports
Voting Panel and Methodology:
In compiling the ranking, we enlisted the help of a group of industry insiders who have first-hand insight and knowledge of college sports' most influential executives. All panelists are themselves influencers in the business, whether as executive recruiters, current or former athletic administrators or business analysts. Our voting panel included:
- Carolyn Schlie Femovich - Executive Director Emeritus, Patriot League
- Daniel Parker - Vice President & Managing Director, Sports at Parker Executive Search
- Patti Phillips - CEO of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA)
- Gregory Santore - Principal and Practice Leader, Sports Leadership at Witt/Kieffer
- Andy Schwarz - Partner, OSKR
- Todd Turner - Founder and President, Collegiate Sports Associates
The voting process was spread over two parts. First, our panelists each submitted 25 unranked names to create a pool of well over 100 possible candidates for the list. Then, the pool was winnowed to the finalists who appeared most often on voter ballots. The nominations panel was then asked to rank each candidate, in order from 1-25 based on the below outlined criteria. A first-place vote was worth 25 points, a second- place vote was worth 24 points, and so on to determine the final rankings.
Panelists were asked to consider the following when nominating candidates for the list:
(1) Quantitative Metrics
(2) Sphere of Influence
(3) Impact
Quantitative Metrics were specific measurable criteria relevant to a candidate's position (such as organizational revenues the candidate is in charge of) as well as measurable career accomplishments (sales figures, employees managed, etc.).
Sphere of Influence asked panelists to take into consideration whether the candidate has influence outside their specific company or vertical, and whether they touch multiple areas of the sports industry.
Finally, Impact relates to how actively and successfully the individual wield their power within their organization, brand, sector and the global stage. Of course, both influence and impact are in the eye of the beholder. This methodology is identical to that used to compile Forbes’ list of the Most Powerful Women In Sports.
Jason Belzer, Esq. is Founder of GAME, Inc. and a Professor of Organizational Behavior and Sports Law at Rutgers University. Follow him on Twitter @JasonBelzer.
