I'd put Goodell just a little bit higher than Garber. It's nice to see two of my favourite sports are considered the two best commissioners in North America.

Bud Selig and I don't think it's even close.

Roger Goodell took over a league that was printing money and faced his first challenge with the labour strike. When the union has 53 players per team (32 teams in the league) and no guaranteed contracts it was a fight that had very little hope. The owners got most of what they wanted but Goodell's real test is the growing lawsuits over concussions, head injuries and long-term brain damage. There's something like 1000 former NFLers who are suing the league and it's the list is getting longer every day. Almost every month there's a story that brings it back to the front pages (ie: Seau's suicide) and dealing with that will prove to be Roger Goodell's legacy. If anything Paul Tagliabue's reign as the commissioner looks more impressive because he guided NFL owners throughout a huge stadium expansion boom, impressively building a reserve and using the Super Bowl as bait for taxpayer-funded stadiums.

David Stern was considered by many throughout the late 90's to the mid-aughts to be the premiere commissioner in sports, that's what happen when you have a star-driven league with Jordan, Barkley, Shaq, Kobe, etc driving the league's growth throughout the world (aided by Yao Ming's popularity), but his legacy started to take a hit after some questionable refereeing that benefited star teams and players. The the rotten/shady deal he struck with his Oklahoma friend Clay Bennett to steal the SuperSonics was worse. His legacy took a hit there because he was personally involved and the optics were terrible, then the past labour-strife brought real acrimony towards him from his own players, fans, etc. Also the the league owning the Hornets and squashing a legitimate deal and muzzling the involved parties left a huge stain. Having owners such as Donald Sterling certainly doesn't help his cause. He started strong but his act has worn thin for some.

Bettman. I refuse to even entertain this.

Bud Selig. He did have one World Series cancelled when he was interim commissioner facing the most powerful union in North American sports, but over his tenure he's more than DOUBLED league revenues to at least $6B. He presided the league over the golden home-run era and guided it's follow-up steroid scandal. Interleague play was introduced under his watch and the league thrived from it. Value of franchises have gone up over the past decade. There's a lot of thing baseball does wrong and despite this they remain as popular and relevant as ever, if not more. Untapped market and resources were opened under his watch, with increased presence in Asia (something Stern has struggled with outside of Yao Ming) and in Latin America. Now with local TV revenues exploding (YES network for example) its increased the Dodgers' value to the point where they were sold for $2B recently (sale just got approved over some controversy). There's more room for baseball to grow and its still a valuable property to own despite taking a backseat to the NFL and sometimes the NBA.

Garber seems to have done a great job since contracting the Florida teams, but in reality it's hard for me to judge whether it was something that was inevitable or if it was due to him and AEG. I give the clear nod to Selig because of his body of work, but the MLS has certainly exploded over the past 10 years.

Agreed with Selig. I read that revenues have gone from $1.3B to nearly 7 billion and are growing. Attendance is solid at most parks and a lot of teams have opened new facilities. That and Selig is nearly the longest serving baseball commissioner ever and the longest serving commissioner out of all the leagues mentioned here I believe. The sport has been able to tinker and add things and stay ahead of conterversy (Steroids, All-Star game tie etc).

Goodell it is too early to say for reasons mentioned above although so far I believe he's done a good job.

Bettman is awful. How the cap can go up every year and a third of teams lose money is ridiculous. Tell me how Phoenix will ever make money with having to spend a minimum of $50M a year on salaries and their revenues aren't even 30M.

Stern is crooked and awful as well. He robbed Seattle of their team and the interference on the Paul trade was bs.

Garber's done well to grow MLS, but he's got a long ways to go still. One of the major things imo is that the MLS needs to increase the quality of refereeing and figure out what to do with franchises like Chivas that just don't draw. I'd say Garber is third, closely behind Goodell.

For me, it's Mark Cohon, CFL Commissioner. Every league, except the NFL, needs it's fanbase to survive. Granted, he's got the smallest league and constituency to deal with but it shouldn't disqualify him from being legitimate.

Any time that you have some type of labour dispute that costs you games, should be a large black mark on your record. Bettman shouldn't even be in this discussion as they're facing a 2nd work stoppage since 2000 and 3rd since 1994 and should be eliminated from the face of the Earth.

3 years ago, Cohon invited fans at Grey Cup to a fans version of the State of the League address where he'd talk about what was coming down the pipe from a league perspective and take questions from the fans as well. Also under his tenure, a Grey Cup Tweetup was created and attended by him and a couple players every year, also during Grey Cup Weekend. Each year, a pair of tickets to the big game were given away via a rock, paper, scissors contest. Cohon, in conjunction with the teams, has made the CFL one of the most fan friendly leagues, probably in the world.

He's managed to stabilize the situation in Southern Ontario with stable management for each franchise. Now, the work to re-furbish/replace aging infrastructure (stadiums) is well under way with improvements to Mosaic, BC Place, Ivor Wynne (Hamilton) and the completion of Investors Group Field in Winnipeg. He's also insisted that everything be in place before re-introducing Ottawa into the league and is also insistent on making sure there's enough support in Atlantic Canada before putting a team there.

ThePrawnGuy said: For me, it's Mark Cohon, CFL Commissioner. Every league, except the NFL, needs it's fanbase to survive. Granted, he's got the smallest league and constituency to deal with but it shouldn't disqualify him from being legitimate.

Any time that you have some type of labour dispute that costs you games, should be a large black mark on your record. Bettman should've even be in this discussion as they're facing a 2nd work stoppage since 2000 and 3rd since 1994 should be eliminated from the face of the Earth.

3 years ago, Cohon invited fans at Grey Cup to a fans version of the State of the League address where he'd talk about what was coming down the pipe from a league perspective and take questions from the fans as well. Also under his tenure, a Grey Cup Tweetup was created and attended by him and a couple players every year, also during Grey Cup Weekend. Each year, a pair of tickets to the big game were given away via a rock, paper, scissors contest. Cohon, in conjunction with the teams, has made the CFL one of the most fan friendly leagues, probably in the world.

He's managed to stabilize the situation in Southern Ontario with stable management for each franchise. Now, the work to re-furbish/replace aging infrastructure (stadiums) is well under way with improvements to Mosaic, BC Place, Ivor Wynne (Hamilton) and the completion of Investors Group Field in Winnipeg. He's also insisted that everything be in place before re-introducing Ottawa into the league and is also insistent on making sure there's enough support in Atlantic Canada before putting a team there.

I wasn't considering the CFL when making this post as I was thinking of North American coverage..... but he is definitely an excellent Commissioner. The one before him was very good too (Tom Wright).

Garber's really good, but his legacy is yet to be determined. He keeps dropping hints that he wants to keep expanding (NY, FL), but he's still got a number of franchisesthat are wards of the state. How he deals with the likes of Chivas in the coming years is a big issue. Also remains to be seen if he can walk the tightrope of loosening restrictions so player quality can improve while still maintaining parity in the league.

I've never been particularly impressed by any of the other team sport commissioners. Stern's a crook, Bettman's a dick, Goodell's a dictator and Selig's been tainted by the drug scandal under his watch.

How anyone can give Selig credit is beyond me. It is the most unbalanced league in North America, and he's made billions of dollars for the League on the back of rampant steroid use while he turned the other cheek.

All that said, he's still better than that dirty crook Bettman.

Bad_Gones said:

AJAX79 said: Un balanced schedule >:P

Get. Over. It.

Unbalanced schedule, and no, I won't get over it regardless of how many periods you insert into your imperative, you big teenager.

If you include the CFL I think that takes the cake, the last few guys have all helped take the league from nearly dying to being the strongest it has ever been in pretty much every measurable category. The only thing that scares me about the CFL right now is what i percieve to be a growing "well its no the NFL so it sucks" sentiment with people around my age (25) now. This generation is going to be probably the toughest nut to crack and if they can do that successfully that will cement Cohon as the top dog.

While I can't stand Gary Bettman, i find it interesting that people will point out how Selig has done well because he has grown revenues, Bettman has done the same thing in his time, and some of the wrongs he has made in the past (Atlanta, TV deal, awful hockey) he has corrected in the past few years. While it scares me that im starting to have faith in him on the Phoenix situation, I look at how he handled the Nashville saga a few years ago, and you look at that franchise and it is now poised to become a great small market franchise in the states which is turning a whole new state onto hockey. Would southern ontario do better? Yes, but in the big picture having an area that wouldnt have watched hockey now watching it, and you may be able to save ontario for an even more dire situation, or an expansion team which would carry huge $$ signs. How he finishes the phoenix situation and deals with a couple other franchises will really determine his legacy. For everything wrong he did early on, he has fixed some of his mistakes and has a chance to actually leave as a good commissioner. Although still a snarky little punk with an undeserved swagger/attitude

As far as Garber is concerned, I think he has to be in the running for sure. Garber is almost like the Gershon Koffie of commissioners. Hasn't done a whole that that is super flashy, but has taken big steps in developing the MLS. While there are still problems with the MLS, the growth it has seen in the past few years in all aspects is promising, and as long as he remembers how he got to where he is and doesnt try to start doing really risky things I think in 10 years he has the chance to be remembered as the man who took MLS to the mainstream

In balanced schedule > Bad_Gones said:

AJAX79 said: Un balanced schedule >:P

Get. Over. It.

We get to see Vancouver v. Seattle at home twice this year. I'm sold.

I meant more along the lines of the reasoning behind the un balanced schedule more than the schedule itself. Especially since Brett had figured out a balanced schedule that did an even better job of addressing the so called concerns that brought about the current schedule.

Sorry, I should've use a :P instead if a >:P

Cohon is the latest in a group of CFL commisioners who have done well for the last 15 years in saving then growing the CFL. It's hard to compare them to NHL etc commissioners given the limited scope for team expansion. Once Ottawa is back, given all the other solid factors (TV deals, ownership stability, new stadiums), he's probably tops.

Garber has done very well. Letting in Chivas and letting the NY team be named after a sponsor were desperate moves. It's too bad they can't be undone now that MLS is solid and has "won" the battle to survive. For that he gets a lot of credit.

Bettman has not been good for hockey. I can't comment on the US leagues that I don't follow or care about.

I hesitate to give Garber too much credit when the man admits outright he doesn't really understand supporters, their culture, or why they want many of the changes we repeatedly ask for. I think MLS is thriving in many respects and will continue to grow in popularity, but I think a commissioner from a traditional football background could advance the league much farther.

BianconeroSouthsider said:

piltdownman said: I hate to say it but Dana White at UFC. He convinced a friend to buy a product that was on the brink of bankruptcy for $2m and converted it into a business with $300 million in revenue a year in the span of a decade ... and all this with a sport that most sane people would say is unwatchable :p

I forgot about him. I myself do watch UFC from time to time, the work White has done over the years has been impeccable. I'd go as far to say he's the best commissioner in sport.

considering how dirty the sport is with PED's and dangerous weight cutting , I am not sure he can be considered that well. Your athlete's health needs to be part of judging a commissioner.

It's absurd to claim that fighting can overtake football in Brazil as a sport. These are events, not a "sport" in the sense that football is in Brazil, where you watch your team once or twice a week. The Grey Cup gets a higher number of viewers than any NHL game, but that doesn't make the CFL more popular than the NHL in Canada.

ibeep said: Bud Selig and I don't think it's even close.

Roger Goodell took over a league that was printing money and faced his first challenge with the labour strike. When the union has 53 players per team (32 teams in the league) and no guaranteed contracts it was a fight that had very little hope. The owners got most of what they wanted but Goodell's real test is the growing lawsuits over concussions, head injuries and long-term brain damage. There's something like 1000 former NFLers who are suing the league and it's the list is getting longer every day. Almost every month there's a story that brings it back to the front pages (ie: Seau's suicide) and dealing with that will prove to be Roger Goodell's legacy. If anything Paul Tagliabue's reign as the commissioner looks more impressive because he guided NFL owners throughout a huge stadium expansion boom, impressively building a reserve and using the Super Bowl as bait for taxpayer-funded stadiums.

David Stern was considered by many throughout the late 90's to the mid-aughts to be the premiere commissioner in sports, that's what happen when you have a star-driven league with Jordan, Barkley, Shaq, Kobe, etc driving the league's growth throughout the world (aided by Yao Ming's popularity), but his legacy started to take a hit after some questionable refereeing that benefited star teams and players. The the rotten/shady deal he struck with his Oklahoma friend Clay Bennett to steal the SuperSonics was worse. His legacy took a hit there because he was personally involved and the optics were terrible, then the past labour-strife brought real acrimony towards him from his own players, fans, etc. Also the the league owning the Hornets and squashing a legitimate deal and muzzling the involved parties left a huge stain. Having owners such as Donald Sterling certainly doesn't help his cause. He started strong but his act has worn thin for some.

Bettman. I refuse to even entertain this.

Bud Selig. He did have one World Series cancelled when he was interim commissioner facing the most powerful union in North American sports, but over his tenure he's more than DOUBLED league revenues to at least $6B. He presided the league over the golden home-run era and guided it's follow-up steroid scandal. Interleague play was introduced under his watch and the league thrived from it. Value of franchises have gone up over the past decade. There's a lot of thing baseball does wrong and despite this they remain as popular and relevant as ever, if not more. Untapped market and resources were opened under his watch, with increased presence in Asia (something Stern has struggled with outside of Yao Ming) and in Latin America. Now with local TV revenues exploding (YES network for example) its increased the Dodgers' value to the point where they were sold for $2B recently (sale just got approved over some controversy). There's more room for baseball to grow and its still a valuable property to own despite taking a backseat to the NFL and sometimes the NBA.

Garber seems to have done a great job since contracting the Florida teams, but in reality it's hard for me to judge whether it was something that was inevitable or if it was due to him and AEG. I give the clear nod to Selig because of his body of work, but the MLS has certainly exploded over the past 10 years.

True, baseball is doing pretty well these days. However, I don't think Selig did very well at all with the steroid era. He tried to sweep all the rumours and obvious roid monkeys under the rug. It all finally came to a head and now you have people wanting to put an asterisk beside all records set in the 'steroid era.' Pretty much the sporting equivalent to the Catholic Church's handling of sexual abuses.

Driveforfiver said:

OldFan said:

BianconeroSouthsider said:

piltdownman said: I hate to say it but Dana White at UFC. He convinced a friend to buy a product that was on the brink of bankruptcy for $2m and converted it into a business with $300 million in revenue a year in the span of a decade ... and all this with a sport that most sane people would say is unwatchable :p

I forgot about him. I myself do watch UFC from time to time, the work White has done over the years has been impeccable. I'd go as far to say he's the best commissioner in sport.

considering how dirty the sport is with PED's and dangerous weight cutting , I am not sure he can be considered that well. Your athlete's health needs to be part of judging a commissioner.

The UFC has a pretty good image in regards to performance enhancing drugs compared to the other major sports. Comparatively, the UFC has had a lot fewer positive tests. As far as I know, their tests are on par with the other guys.

Yeah, but the guys are getting good at cycling and beating the tests. They don't test random enough to catch enough guys doing stuff (which I lay on Dana's shoulders as he may be afraid of the outcome). Plus, I still think HGH is something that is hard to test for. It is more than just steroids that people can use.

So yeah, UFC has only a few guys busted; but without true and legitimate random testing year round most fighters can take the risk of cycling in between fights and using appropriate masking agents. The public also reacts with a collective yawn if a fighter gets busted, serves out his suspension ,and are back to cheer him on in his return fight.

But to be honest, I don't consider PED's to be the big problem with UFC health. I believe it is the weight cutting. For those that are not familiar with this let me give you a hypothetical (I am sure this happens in boxing too):

A guy is fighting at a 175 pound weight class. However, most fighters try to walk into that fight as big as they can, often 20 - 30 pounds over the weight class. So, what they do is train and bulk up to say 205. A few days before the weigh-in, they dehydrate themselves severely to drop 25+ pounds of water weight. They do the weigh-in, and then guzzle fluids and put it back on, and go into the fight at 200 or 205 or something like that. Extreme and rapid dehydration like that is very dangerous for your internal organs and heart. Dana white allows this to happen and won't put in multiple weigh-ins leading up to a fight that would stop this nonsense. The fighters want to fight 20 pounds over the weight class and that is how they do it. It is extremely dangerous and White seems to have no interest in dealing with that issue; and probably won't until someone dies from it.

So, my point from all this is I think he pays lip service to his fighter's health; and so I can't rate him as a top notch leader because of that.

But, purely from business, he built it from a dead entity into a world wide powerhouse and I can see why he is looked up with such good viewpoints. I do think the major explosion came when he had GSP and Lesnar highlighting the company.