Bettman ranks No. 15 in list of most influential in sports business

Because we haven’t written enough about the business of sports lately, here are eight people with NHL connections that made SportsBusiness Journal’s list of “50 Most Influential People in Sports Business”:

5. Phil Anschutz (Owner) and Tim Leiweke (CEO), AEG – Among many other things, AEG owns the Los Angeles Kings. The company’s also for sale, if you’ve got a few billion dollars.

15. Gary Bettman, NHL commissioner – In case you were wondering, the three other commissioners were ranked No. 2 (Roger Goodell, NFL), No. 3 (Bud Selig, MLB), and No. 4 (David Stern, NBA).

19. Donald Fehr, NHLPA executive director – Hired to bring stability and strength to a players’ association that’s historically had little of one or the other, or both. Only one other union leader made the cut, the NFLPA’s DeMaurice Smith at No. 42 for his ongoing work in player safety as well as the collusion case against the NFL. The other two, Michael Weiner (MLBPA) and Billy Hunter (NBPA), aren’t quite so busy these days.

43. Ed Snider (Chairman) and Peter Luukko (President & COO), Comcast-Spectator – The owner of the Philadelphia Flyers and his right-hand man.

46. Bill Daly (NHL deputy commissioner) and Bob Batterman (Partner, Proskauer Rose) – Bundled together for obvious reasons. Daly you know. Batterman is the NHL’s labor counsel. You probably know him, too.