The most powerful men in sports would always be owners or people they let be their proxies. I mean, unless you interpret "power" to mean "hitting for the fences," the guy that signs the check is in the position of power; not the guy getting the check.
I'll leave the obvious answers, Steinbrenner (Hank, not George) and Jerry Jones aside.
I'm going to name, for your approval, one name that quietly has amassed some power: Robert Kraft.
No, I don't mean Bill Belichick is his right hand man, therefore, he must be powerful. He, unlike Jones, has been hands off on team operations, but very active in their marketing. Belichick and GM Scott Pioli are not involved in business decisions.
Along with others, Kraft is on the TV committee of the NFL. (Wonder why Senator Specter, D, Comcast, goes after the Patriots?
The other teams that Senator Comcast will eventually get to are the Cowboys, the Broncos, the Rams, and the Panthers. Why? The NFL TV committee. Where the majority of the money comes from. The ones eventually behind the NFL network that Senator Comcast hates.
The members of that committee are Jones, Kraft, as well as Denver Broncos President-CEO Pat Bowlen, St. Louis Rams owner/Vice Chairman Stan Kroenke and Carolina Panthers President Mark Richardson.
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2 months ago
Pictured from left to right are TV committee member Robert Kraft, Owner ofthe Fox network (among other things) Rupert Murdoch, and the guy who is key to a bunch of consumers and Super Bowl ring thief, Vladimir Putin.
2 months ago
J.Jones is rare because he is a leader on the economic side (Cowboys now the richest sports franchise in the world) and as the de facto GM he is also in control of the daily football operations
Another owner that has separated himself in terms of economics is Dan Synder, as much as I hate on the guy he is a genius in the Jerry Jones mold, taking his brand national and creating new revenue streams for his team. He does not have the sway of a Jones or Craft because he is a newer owner and has shown a propensity to act on his own...
A large portion of the revenue sharing has come from the Cowboys and Redskins the last few seasons as they are two of the most profitable teams in the NFL, leading the two enemy owners to side with one another on economic issues during off season owners meetings.
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