Dana White ranks 45th behind Barack Obama in Sports Illustrated’s poll of the 50 Most Powerful People in Sports. As the title infers, the list includes the biggest power brokers in sports.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ranks number 1 and retiring NBA commissioner David Stern is second. Other notables on the list include Eric Shanks (15), the Fox Sports exec who assisted in brokering the UFC-Fox deal, Showtime exec and VP of Sports and Entertainment, Stephen Espinoza (49) and boxing adviser and promoter Al Haymon (42).
No information on this, but Obama is likely placed at 44 because he’s also the 44th President.
Payout Perspective:
The online SI article includes references to HBO’s Game of Thrones (returning later to the network this month) when referring to power in sports. You guessed it, SI and HBO are owned by Time Warner. The fact that an article can be altered to include a reference not truly related to the crux of the article is another example of power. Although the list is subjective, White’s inclusion on this list shows that the UFC is gaining mainstream notoriety.
What a crap list. Goodell is #1 most powerfull? The guy just suspended the saints players and was fought by the union. They had to bring in the last commissioner to handle it and he didnt uphold Goodells suspensions. How can he be the most powerful when he did t even have the power to enforce his own rules and carry out his punishments. In fact one o the things that come of this is his authority was challenged and he lost and come off looking real bad. The former commission was top 2 for sure. But not Goodell after this. The top spots have to go Stern or the preside t of the NFL players association. But honestly all these sports live and die by tv ratings. So you can argue the TV execs hold all the power.