Ranking The Sports Commissioners By Mark Simmons

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http://www.askmen.com/sports/busines..._business.html

Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner, NFL
Born: November 24, 1940
Previous occupation: NFL lawyer
Leading since: 1989

David Stern, Commissioner, NBA
Born: September 22, 1942
Previous occupation: NBA's executive vice president
Leading since: 1984

Gary Bettman, Commissioner, NHL
Born: June 2, 1952
Previous occupation: NBA executive
Leading since: 1993

Bud Selig, Commissioner, MLB
Born: July 30, 1934
Previous occupation: Car dealer, then owner of baseball team
Leading since: 1998 (officially)

accomplishments



Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner, NFL
Incidentally, in 2001, Paul Tagliabue was The Sporting News' most powerful sports figure, so it should come as some surprise that he slipped a slot. After all, ratings actually grew 5% from 2001 to 2002. Moreover, there has not been a work stoppage in the NFL for over 15 years, since 1987, whereas the other leagues have had work stoppages throughout the 1990s. Introducing the salary cap in 1994, Tagliabue paved the way for stability, which now enables the league to make more money than most nations do. No team is in any serious financial disarray even though the number of teams has increased from 28 to 32 since his tenure.

Mr. Tagliabue gets an A; L.A. still has no team and the TV networks lost a combined $2 billion on the current TV deal, making it relatively hard for the man with the Midas touch to raise the value of that deal, but his record is as good as it gets.

On to the court, the turf and the ice...

David Stern, Commissioner, NBA
In terms of accomplishments, David Stern is not all that far off from Tagliabue, but the recent slide in the NBA's fortunes sure have made some of his laurels turn to dust. After all, while the NBA was the most fantastic league around, these days, it is anything but. Nonetheless, we cannot be too hard on Mr. Stern, given that he has managed to introduce the salary cap and revenue sharing among teams. As well, the NBA has added six teams under his tutelage and seen revenue increase several hundred percentage points. Attendance in itself has shot up by over 50% and the sport has truly become a multinational one, with almost 20% of players coming from abroad.

As well, he has added several new dimensions to the sport by creating the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the minor-league National Basketball Development League, and NBA.com TV, a new digital channel. As we speak, Mr. Stern gets an A-.

Gary Bettman, Commissioner, NHL
Since taking over in 1993, the NHL has grown enormously. By then, Wayne Gretzky had already helped increase the reach of the sport to the southwest, but since then, Mr. Bettman's hard work has made the league add nine teams, up from 21. By adding sports franchises in Florida, Northern California and the Mideast, Bettman has taken the NHL to a new level. Perhaps one of his boldest moves was ushering the era for participation in the Olympics. Today, the NHL benefits from sponsorships despite the wobbly economy and heightened ticket prices means more revenue per seat.

While many people were wondering what a basketball executive could do for hockey, he has helped it boost its profile. The problem is that with increased ticket prices comes a decrease in attendance. He may have added nine teams to the league, but the league now has ten teams in dire straits, including the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators. As well, it was on his watch that the Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques left Canada, so his score would probably be lower if you asked a Canadian fan. When everything is said and done, Mr. Bettman's accomplishments earn him a C+.

Bud Selig, Commissioner, MLB
Bud Selig is a good man at heart. He loves baseball and always has. For better or worse, he has worked as hard as he could to be in the position that he's in now. A car dealer who bought the American League Seattle Pilots for $10.8 million in 1970, and moved them to the Midwest, has been the de facto commissioner since Fay Vincent's days, and as such was largely responsible for the 232-day players' strike that resulted in the cancellation of the World Series in 1994, for the first time in 90 years. Officially named baseball's ninth commissioner on July 2, 1998, he recently made another snafu by controversially ending the 2002 All-Star Game after 11 innings despite a 7-7 score.

Under his watch, the league has added teams in Miami, Tampa Bay, Arizona, and Colorado. On the flip side, Selig has ridiculously argued that Minnesota, Miami, Montreal, and others should be contracted. In the end, despite genuinely meaning well (we will give him the benefit of the doubt for now), everything that Mr. Selig touches turns to dust. Even his daughter -- who took over control of his beloved Milwaukee Brewers -- was forced from power because the team sucked on the field. When everything is said and done, his ways with other owners explain why he is in power, but his performance gets him an F. He has taken America's pastime and rammed it into the ground.

What have they done for sports lately?

change since taking over



David Stern, Commissioner, NBA
Stern took over the NBA in 1984, the same year that a kid from North Carolina took flight and lifted the league miles above the competition. At the time, 17 out of 23 teams were in the red; and just four years earlier, the Finals were not even aired live, airing on tape delay on CBS at 11:30pm.

Nearly two decades later, he helped attendance soar by 50%, increased market values of franchises by 500%, and introduced play above the border in Canada. To say that Stern turned the NBA around would be an understatement, but to argue that he has not lost a step would be false. He gets an A.

Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner, NFL
Tagliabue cannot be faulted for this, but the fact that he was handed a pristine league and has only improved it hurts him here. After all, former NFL commish Pete Rozelle ranks as one of the greatest business leaders in North American professional sports, which means that many people could have -- at least in theory -- ramped up what Rozelle started.

After all, a great part of the NFL's present success stems from the Sports Broadcasting Act that allows a league to bundle all the markets into one pool and leverage that when it comes to hashing out the terms of a TV deal. Nonetheless, he has managed to cultivate the league from a successful sporting organization to a powerhouse media firm, earning an A- along the way.

Gary Bettman, Commissioner, NHL
Hockey has come a long way since 1993. With teams in all four corners of the continent, the league's reach has surely increased. But as noted above, contraction was not a term in the NHL lexicon in 1993. Ten years later, however, it sure is... even though Mr. Bettman will not admit to it. As well, the departure of teams from Quebec and Winnipeg do not help Mr. Bettman in the eyes of real hockey fans. Overall, while the league has advanced considerably by taking three steps forward, it almost seems as though, a decade later, it has also taken two steps back, which doesn't leave it any better off. Overall, Mr. Bettman gets a C here.

Bud Selig, Commissioner, MLB
Baseball has a favorable antitrust legislation in its favor. Baseball was once the nation's pastime. Today, it is a league that is growing irrelevant fast, with juiced players taking the diamond and owners crying poverty. Under Mr. Selig's watch, the league has backtracked considerably, earning Mr. Selig an F.

And where are they going to take us

legacy



Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner, NFL
If Mr. Tagliabue were to resign today, there are many people in the higher ranks that could conceivably step up and lead. While Mr. Tagliabue's golden touch will be missed, he has created an environment where his watch will not be missed, as people will be able to tell the time for years to come. It takes a great man to take something bad and turn it into something good, as has done Mr. Stern; but it takes an even greater man to take something great and make it even better. This is what Mr. Tagliabue has done, and for his efforts in improving an already great thing, he gets an A+.

David Stern, Commissioner, NBA
While the league has suffered in recent years, there are some considerable highlights in addition to all the work he has done thus far. Looking ahead, the fact that the league has come back from nearly being flatlined to being the best-positioned league for global expansion speaks volumes. With 20% of athletes hailing from abroad, Mr. Stern can make a blind-eye pass to anyone in Europe, Asia or South America as the league enters the 21st century. But given the political realities around the world, this is not nearly as important as what Tagliabue has accomplished domestically, and this is why he edges out Stern. Mr. Stern gets an A.

Gary Bettman, Commissioner, NHL
In all fairness, Mr. Bettman's legacy remains to be seen. If he were to leave today, someone would have to address the fact that a full third of the league's franchises are losing money and many have no business being in existence. Moreover, given that a lockout seems inevitable in 2004, Mr. Bettman's legacy earns him a C-.

Bud Selig, Commissioner, MLB
If I could hand out a Z, I would in this case. Mr. Selig's legacy will be a negative one. The World Series strike, the All-Star sham, the rampant steroid use... it would take a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to turn the tide. His legacy is an F, but if he can salvage the team in Montreal (where the first game was played outside of American soil), avoid that nonsense contraction talk in Minnesota, and get players to clean up their acts, then he can shoot up to a C. If he can improve the game a bit by making it go faster, by golly Bud, I may even push you up to a C+.

the grades are in

The Overall Grades

Commissioner Accomplishments Change Legacy Overall
Paul Tagliabue A A- A+ A
David Stern A- A A A-
Gary Bettman C+ C C C+
Bud Selig F F F F




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Question: Between Bud Selig, Gary Bettman, Paul Tagliabue, and David Stern, who jumped the most positions in The Sporting News' 2002 ranking of the Most Powerful People in Sports, from 2001?

Answer: While Paul Tagliabue slipped from #1 to #2, David Stern rose from #6 to #5, and Gary Bettman stayed even at #10, Bud Selig shot up from #14 to #3 in the 2002 rankings.

Resources:
www.infoplease.com
www.sportingnews.com
www.businessweek.com