Tiger Woods No Longer Most Powerful U.S. Athlete

Pounded and distracted by scandal, Tiger Woods has lost his longtime No. 1 ranking on the Businessweek.com Power 100. Meet America's new most powerful sports figure

By Joel Stonington

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(Correction: In 2007 NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was No. 1 overall. The Power 100 no longer includes non-playing athletes.
Correction was made to subhed on page 2. Lindsey Vonn is No. 13 on the Power 100.)

Ever since the Power 100 was launched in 2007, Tiger Woods has held the spot at the top athlete. Not this year. Shaken by scandal and struggling on the fairways, Woods is no longer America's most powerful athlete, as measured on and off the field.

He's still, however, the highest-paid. In 2010 he earned an estimated $70 million, almost 30 percent higher than the next-best-paid athlete, golf rival Phil Mickelson, who took home more than $53.8 million. But Woods's earnings came primarily from endorsements, with the big purses going to others. That left his income down 32 percent from the more-than $103 million he generated in 2009. Unless he can regain his game—and the trust of fans and advertisers—his earnings are likely to keep plummeting.

Woods wasn't the only big star to drop in the rankings because of negative publicity. LeBron James slid from the No. 2 spot on last year's Power 100, to No. 11. When he announced on live TV last July that he'd be taking his "talents" from Cleveland to Miami, numerous fans soured on him—including many far from Ohio. While the Miami Heat are having a good year, James may need to digest further crow before he can reconquer Madison Avenue and Main Street.

"If you walk into a buzz saw of negativity, then you just paid for that, so marketers are cautious," says Tony Ponturo, a consultant who see things from the sponsors' side after spending years managing Anheuser-Busch's $700 million sports marketing budget. "[The athletes] that consistently have the right profile of the corporate and human citizen are the ones that are being sought after right now."

Who, then, is the new No. 1 atop the 2011 Power 100? That honor goes to the Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning, popular among fans and advertisers—and one heck of a quarterback.

"They Can Relate to" Peyton Manning

Though Manning didn't make it to this year's Super Bowl, he led the Colts there in two of the last four seasons, winning Super Bowl XLI in 2007. He consistently produces seasons with high QB ratings and nearly led the NFL in passing yards in 2010. On top of his stellar on-field performance, Manning maintains an all-American image.

"He's likeable," says Ponturo. "He looks like he's a regular person. Those on Madison Avenue realize that there is a big world out there looking for someone they can relate to."

A second fresh face atop the 2011 Power 100 is that of Shaun White, who vaulted 49 places to No. 2. Late in 2009 beverage maker Red Bull built a private halfpipe for the snowboarder in the mountains near Silverton, Colo. The investment helped White devise a risky new trick: the double mctwist 1260. Early last year, he won his second Olympic gold medal on the score from his first run, which did not feature the dangerous maneuver. Instead of enjoying an easy victory lap, White then executed the double mctwist 1260 on his second run, beating his previous score.

White is now the dominant face of the creative, dynamic sports popularized by ESPN's Winter X Games. "He helped contemporize the Olympics and bring a younger audience," Ponturo says.