Previous Story
Six women among powerful 100
|
Posted on Dec 11 1998
ST. LOUIS — Athletes and women did not fare very well on the Sporting News list of the 100 most powerful people in sports.
Just six women made the list released Tuesday, and none higher than No. 46, Anita DeFrantz, who is a vice president of the International Olympic Committee.
Other women on the list were No. 71, Sara Levinson, president of NFL Properties; No. 88, Donna Lopiano, executive director of the Women’s Sports Foundation; No. 90, pro golfer Se Ri Pak; No. 96, Val Ackerman, president of the WNBA; and No. 98, Sandra Ortiz-Del Valle, a teacher-coach at Humanities High School in New York City.
Only six of the 100 places on the list went to athletes and one place did not even go to a human. No. 100 was awarded to Glory, a Beanie Baby.
Michael Jordan, who was No. 1 last year, slipped to No. 4 with the top spot going to media mogul Ruper Murdoch. Other athletes on the list were St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire at No. 9, Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs at No. 24, pro golfer Tiger Woods at No. 68, and Pak at No. 90.
No. 50 was awarded to six baseball free agents — Randy Jpohnson, Kevin Brown, Mike Piazza, Mo Vaughn, Bernie Williams and Albert Belle.
Murdoch, CEO of News Corp. and Fox Entertainment Group Inc., which broadcasts NFL, NHL and major league baseball games and owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, topped the list for the third time in five years.
The new No. 1 received the endorsement of NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol, who headed the list in 1996 and is No. 10 this year. “It isn’t even close,” Ebersol said. “You could make him Nos. 1 through 5.”
NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue is No. 2, followed by Michael Eisner, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Co. After Jordan, the fifth spot went to Bud Selig, elected baseball commissioner in July. Selig had been acting commissioner since September 1992.
Chase Carey, co-chief operating officer of News Corp and CEO of Fox Television, is No. 6, followed by Steve Bornstein, chairman of ESPN and president of ABC Sports. No. 8 was a tie between Cablevision founder and chairman Charles Dolan, and his son, James, CEO of the company.
McGwire and Ebersol complete the top 10.
Associated Press
