No arbitrary ranking can be without controversy. How would you rerank the people on the Power 100 list? Did we leave someone off? Who would you add?

This list is way too american-centric!  Firstly Sepp Blatter should be number 1 not 20 because he controls 'soccer' worldwide.  Fifa is richer and has a much bigger influence than the NFL or any other sport.  The world cup final is the most watched sporting event, so how can he not be the most powerful man in sports?  Sure the NFL is a monopoly but only Americans actually care about it, and few internationals.  Also I cannot see how American sport franchise owners are higher in the list compared to owners of EPL teams! The NFL has complete revenue sharing and controls competitive balance, whereas Manchester United share some TV money but rake in considerably more money than a mid table EPL club.  There is a reason that all EPL teams are being bought up by foreign owners, because they can generate untold amounts of revenue.  

I also disagree that so many individual players are powerful enough to be on the list.  Perhaps opinion setters like Tiger Woods and David Beckam, but Roger Federer?  What would happen if he stopped playing tennis tomorrow?  Probably nothing, and if he decided to pick up a cause like world peace that would probably have no effect either, how is he powerful?

I think the list is too Americanised as well. How can comissioners of sports that are American-centric be world players? The president of the IOC and FIFA should both be ranked higher. They have worldwide influence and are responsible for events that cause entire nations and world economies to be affected. The infrastructure costs alone of hosting a World Cup or an Olympics reveberates for generations.

Also, why is Jeff Gordon more powerful than Bernie Ecclestone? Jeff is a NASCAR star. All Bernie does is control Formula 1, which is so big and powerful that a NASCAR budget for a top team of 3 cars a year would barely cover the catering costs of a team like McLaren or Ferrari. While NASCAR looks for state/city funding or rich owners to build tracks, Formula 1 needs an entire nation to get involved in the process.

Maybe the title should change to "100 most powerful sports people in America". That would have been much more apt.

Strongly Agree - this idea deserves it's own thread (which I've created).  Perhaps ESPN can redo this list properly...they could break down each person ranked by power on each continent to show the more insular individuals why Sepp (say...ranked 2nd in Europe, 1st in Asia/Australia, 35th in North America and 3rd in South America) is more powerful overall than Roger (ranked 75th in Europe, Unranked in Asia/Aust, 1st in North America and 50th in South America). North America could account for 45% of the aggregate score, with Europe being 30%, Asia/Australia being 20% and South America being 5% (loosely based on piece of aggregate sports revenue).    Please bear in mind that my rankings are somewhat arbitrary and are only meant to serve as an example...

Such a list would also introduce us North Americans to relatively famous athletes and sports personalities that we are unfamiliar with because of localization!