Tags, you're IT: there are billions of reasons—a few unrelated to money—why NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue is the most powerful person in sports

Sporting News, The, Jan 14, 2005 by Stuart Miller

The National Football League and television have been happily married for 48 years, a very long time. There have been a few rocky moments in the past, but this year saw new lows as not one but two beautiful women tried to play home wreckers.

Janet and Nicollette stirred up trouble, but in the end nothing could stop the NFL and TV from renewing their vows. What was astonishing in 2004 was how clear it was who was wearing the pants in this family: The league usually resolves all of its TV deals at once, but in 2004 it ran a different route and scored a touchdown. CBS, FOX and DirecTV forked over $11.5 billion and a stunning degree of flexibility that will enable the league to reap more billions in Round 2 of its TV deals in 2005.

The CBS and FOX Sunday afternoon packages are worth $8 billion through 2011, with the networks paying a significantly higher annual rate than before. DirecTV's $3.5 billion for five more years of Sunday Ticket also came at a much higher price.

But NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and his team did more than bring home the bacon for breakfast--they also set the table for a feast at lunch. The NFL persuaded CBS and FOX to give more than just more money; they're giving up games, too, enabling the league to create a brand-new Thursday-Saturday package for the end of the season. This will reap billions more from some cable outlet while increasing the league's exposure in the marketplace after Thanksgiving, making it even more desirable to advertisers seeking the elusive male television viewer during the holiday shopping season. To top it off, the NFL got CBS and FOX to agree to negotiate to let the league move one crucial late-season game to Monday Night Football, enhancing that package's value before the league begins discussions with ABC-ESPN.

In the short term, Terrell Owens bucking the league and getting himself sent to Philadelphia was offset by the NFL's victory in court that kept Maurice Clarett at bay. In the long run, the Janet Jackson and Nicollette Sheridan fiascos will fade into Trivial Pursuit questions.

Tagliabue exerted power in countless other ways during the past year: The NFL, along with its union, is giving a seal of approval to companies so athletes will know which supplements avoid banned substances; Gatorade re-upped as sponsor for eight years at $500 million; the league's international expansion reached 150 million new homes with rights deals in countries ranging from China to Brazil; and the owners gave Tagliabne an impressive deal of his own, extending his reign through 2008 at a reported $8 million per year. But ultimately, it was the domestic television package that reminded everyone that the NFL is different from other sports, both in its appeal and in how brilliantly it is run. And that is why Tagliabue, 64, is our most powerful person in sports for 2004.

"Paul is very, very involved; he's the guy who runs the process," says Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, who was the NFL Broadcast Committee's point man on negotiations.

Steve Bornstein, the former ESPN boss who runs the NFL Network and helps oversee the TV negotiations, translates for fans: "He's the quarterback, and he's calling all the signals."

Of course, any NFL commissioner automatically would rank near the top of this list--football has become America's Game, the Super Bowl a national holiday, and the league generates revenue equal to that of many nations. But Patriots owner Robert Kraft says, "While the power of the brand is pretty special, it can certainly get messed up." (That means you, Justin Timberlake.) Kraft credits Tagliabue's ability to handle 32 owners who are savvy entrepreneurs and are used to being bosses while overseeing the league's increasingly complex external partnerships as what sets him apart.

"He's very good at gathering the facts and information he needs, and he is deliberate," Kraft says. "He's such a brilliant strategic thinker, and at the same time he's able to be manager for all these moving parts."

Tagliabue's deputy Roger Goodell says one key to the commissioner's success is his planning--he thinks out every possibility in every situation, internal or external "so the league is proactive, not reactive."

Indeed, it's notable that the commissioner himself says the most "time-consuming and complex" aspect to the TV deal was not negotiating the rights fees or flexibility but in looking ahead in an ever-changing technological landscape and "making sure we're making the right choices."

Tagliabue makes these points while sitting for an interview in the Pete Rozelle Room in the league offices at 280 Park Avenue. a reminder of the remarkable stability the league has had for decades.

"The most difficult part was to make certain our assessment of the future out into 2011 is reliable," he says, adding that the league weighed whether to seek a shorter-term contract. "We're assessing the health of broadcast television. We're assessing the growth of subscriber-supported mediums. cable and satellite. We're assessing the evolution of digital technologies, including wireless technologies, interactivity and consumer access to video-on-demand."