Separate And Still Not Equal

Black Enterprise recently announced its list of top administrators, decision makers in collegiate, professional sports and related industries, the BE 50 Most Powerful Blacks in Sports.  Although many superstar black athletes dominate their chosen playing fields, the true power in sports lies with the executives who work behind the scenes," says Features Editor Alan Hughes. "We approached this list from a business perspective, citing those who control revenues, sign athletes, and have the authority to hire or fire coaches." While there remains a gross disparity between blacks and non-blacks at the pinnacle of the sports industry, the editors at BE selected and recognized those who have broken through to the highest ranks to achieve true clout within the sports industry.  The list of the 50 Most Powerful Blacks in Sports included the following collegiate decision makers, corporate executives, front office executives, industry association heads and owners.

Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal (Journal) is a national weekly trade magazine, and the flagship publication for the Street & Smith’s Sports Group. Since its launch in 1998, SportsBusiness Journal has become the undisputed authority on the business of sports and a must read for top executives in every segment of sports business—properties, sponsors, media, facilities, finance and professional services.  Since 1999, the Journal has presented its Forty Under Forty Award, a compilation of the “best and brightest” executives under 40 in the sports business industry.  Three-time Forty Under Forty winners are automatically moved to the Forty Under Forty Hall of Fame.

Remarkably, there is but a single Black sports business executive included in this year’s edition of Forty Under Forty, Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans.  Damon also represents the sole member of the BE 50 Most Powerful Black’s in Sports to also be named to the Journal’s 40 Under 40.  Even more remarkable, Joe Dumars, President of the Pistons and Billy King of the 76ers are the only other member of the BE list to have ever been selected to the Journal’s 40 Under 40 list.  With his third selection in the Forty Under Forty class, Damon was also automatically moved to the Forty Under Forty Hall of Fame where he becomes the Hall of Fame’s sole Black sports executive. 

Since its inception in 1999, only Percy Miller, aka Master P (No Limit Sports), Michael Huyghue (Jacksonville Jags 1999, 2000), Joe Dumars and Billy King have been selected to the Journal’s 40 Under 40 list.   Absolutely unbelievable, when you consider that the Journal’s 40 Under 40 all-time list and Hall of Fame are both dominated by white agents who manage Black players, trust fund executives who own sports franchises and, therefore, Black players, and radio and television executives whose job it is to simply talk about Black players.  Another way to analyzed the disparity is that it takes Blacks way to long to move up and/or make an impact in an industry Blacks dominate on the playing level.

If you have questions or require additional information, please contact Everett L. Glenn, Esq. at eglenn@espsportslawpro.com or call 562.619.8460.