4 - FIFA/CIES International University Network

THE WORLD’S 20 MOST INFLUENTIAL
Promoters
While promoters have long played a major role in sports, the dynamic of the job has changed
notably from the earliest days when American fight promoter Tex Rickard was arranging bouts at
Madison Square Garden for heavyweight Jack Dempsey. Today, promoters must move globally,
think digitally and generate fans in the arena as well as eyeballs for TVs, movie screens, laptops
and phones. Not surprisingly, these entrepreneurial ringmasters - some well known, some
emerging - are masterful in their command of the corporate and spectator domain.
SportBusiness
International’s
monthly take
on the 20 most
influential
people or
companies
within specific
sectors of
sport...
Bernie Ecclestone (Formula One)
Not always loved nor fully
understood, he has withstood
all comers and challenges to
his racing empire while keeping
constructors and cities with skin in
the game. His ability to attract cities
like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur,
Istanbul, Sakhir (Bahrain) and
Shanghai showed he was one of the
first promoters to fully grasp Asia’s
enormous capacity and financial
wherewithal. The fact teams now
spend more than £105 million
annually, sponsors queue up to
underwrite teams and international
drivers and cities virtually beg for
the right to stage races is proof
enough that a weekend with Bernie
is still enormously relevant.
Lalit Modi (Indian Premier League)
Educated at Duke University
in North Carolina, Modi took
cricket to record-shattering
heights throughout Europe, Asia
and Oceania before the Board
of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) suspended him in June
over allegations of improper
actions including corruption. Modi
constructed lengthy management
and broadcasting deals with
companies such as IMG and
World Sport Group then made
sure world cricket’s superstars
were paid handsomely to attach
themselves to three editions of the
IPL. That India is emerging as one
of the true centres of the sporting
universe is no longer a surprise
to global practitioners. Modi’s
suspension shouldn’t suggest he is
finished as a promoter.
The Singapore Sports Council
Many cities have longed to emerge
as sporting hubs but few have ever
done more in a shorter length of
time … particularly in a country
that had long eschewed sport in
favour of education and the arts.
Singapore’s decision to re-invent
itself through sporting events
such as the annual Formula One
race, FINA Swimming World Cup
and the just-completed inaugural
Youth Olympic Games is testament
to the concept of city branding.
Singaporean development of
valuable real estate for sports
venues and a willingness to test
foreign concepts (such as joining
the Australian National Basketball
League) shows this council and
its CEO, Oon Jin Teik, to be far
ahead of the curve.
David Stern and
Heidi Ueberroth (NBA)
How Stern and Ueberroth were
not included on this list in 2009
is a notable mystery and serious
omission. The NBA commissioner
has long understood the advantages
of staging events in new markets
and then distributing that product
aggressively. From games in China
to a burgeoning presence in India
and the United Kingdom, Stern has
demanded his organisation attract
players (if not owners such as
Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov)
from around the world, and then
take the NBA’s product back to
those breeding grounds. The NBA’s
international acumen has been led
by executives such as Ueberroth
(president of NBA International)
and Tim Chen (CEO of NBA China)
and Ueberroth is already one of the
most powerful women in sports.
Her role will only grow in the
coming years.
Jeffrey Pollack and Grupo RBS
(Professional Bull Riding)
To some observers, this sport
wouldn’t logically warrant a
listing among the world’s top
20 promoters. But to present
a global list and not include a
Brazilian promoter would be a
travesty … particularly at a time
when Brazilian sport is exploding
through the acquisition of both
the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016
Summer Olympic Games. Pollack,
the PBR’s chairman and former
commissioner for the World Series
of Poker and Grupo RBS, the sport’s
Brazilian partner, have seen to it
that hundreds of events are staged
annually and they are doing so with
the flare often associated with rock
concerts and major fight cards.
Rick Dudley (Octagon)
Dudley’s name may not be on
everyone’s lips but his stewardship
of Octagon Worldwide, and
promoters such as Phil de Picciotto
(president of Octagon’s Athletes
and Personalities), mean this
Connecticut-headquartered outfit
can suggest they are the world’s
largest sports and entertainment
sponsorship consultancy. And
with the ultimate responsibility
for representation of hundreds of
athletes and celebrities, Dudley’s
time at the NFL, MLB and NHL has
served him well since taking over
as CEO in 2003.
ESPN (X-Games)
To efficiently run a TV network is
one thing. To invent sporting events
that compete with the Olympics
and nudge the International
Olympic Committee into bringing
‘new’ sports like snowboarding
into the fold is another. But ESPN
hasn’t just developed content
in the area of extreme sports.
This American sports cable giant
(the self-proclaimed “Worldwide
Leader in Sports”) is constantly
designing new channels such as
ESPN 360 (or programming like the
acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary
series) and layering its offerings of
print and internet journalism with
international expansion and sportproduct
creation.
Paul Dainty (Dainty Consolidated
Entertainment)
His name won’t ring a lot of bells,
but Australia’s Paul Dainty is
rapidly building a diverse portfolio
of sports (like WWE), concerts,
exhibitions and special events. He is
already one of the most influential
players in Oceania’s booming live
entertainment industry and has
presented some of the biggest
brands in the world including the
82 SportBusiness International • No.160 • 09.10