Some of the “off-court” highlights heading into March Madness, including the fact that the first two days of the tournament will cost businesses $134 million in lost productivity, according to the firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. An estimated three million employees will spend three hours watching the games at work. 
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Rookies took the sports world by storm in 2012, resulting in four first-year players making the 2013 Bloomberg “Sportfolio” / Horrow Sports Ventures Power 100. The highest-ranked rookie is Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, who came in at No. 33. In addition to his strong on-field stats, RG3 had the best off-field score amongst rookies.
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Men and women’s professional tennis came in at only 2% and 1% respectively on a Harris Poll of Americans’ favorite sport. Today’s pro tennis players, however, fared much more favorably in a 2013 ranking of the most powerful athletes in sports. Tennis players accounted for 11% of the Bloomberg “Sportfolio”/Horrow Sports Ventures 2013 Power 100.
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A record 15 women are represented on the 2013 Power 100, up from 11 in 2012. Among women topping the list are Serena Williams, WTA World Number One tennis player and at No. 12, the top-ranked woman on the Power 100. Williams claims lucrative endorsement deals with Gatorade, and Wilson, and Nike, and has a clothing line that sells on Home Shopping Network.
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Unlike prior years, in which the NFL dominated the top quarter of the list, the 2013 Power 100 reveals a more homogenous balance between athletes participating in individual sports and team sports. Tennis players continued to show their marketplace mettle with 11 people on the list.
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If 2010 gave us “The Decision,” 2012 brought “The Redemption.” In a year which he claimed his third NBA Most Valuable Player award, his first NBA championship, his second Olympic gold medal, and two multimillion-dollar endorsement deals, the Miami Heat’s LeBron James can add another accolade to his ever-growing list.
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For the first time in four years, basketball topples the NFL for the No. 1 position, with the top five positions overall revealing a remarkable balance of power among individuals in a range of sports.
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Although it’s hard to get in a spring mindset when yet more massive winter storms are battering the country, batters, pitchers, and fielders are hitting the diamond this week in the first “official” contests of the 2013 baseball season. From Port St. Lucie, FL to Puerto Rico and Fukuoka, Japan, the combination of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and Major League Baseball’s spring training underway have baseball fans everywhere dreaming of RBIs and pitch counts.
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To promote next week’s Bloomberg “Sportfolio”/Horrow Sports Ventures Power 100 unveiling, this weekly preview will focus on athletes who were underrated, along with one who was overrated, in the final rankings.
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Other than the PGA with Tiger Woods and the NBA with LeBron James, few athletes have the ability to move the needle for their entire sport. NASCAR might finally have its X-factor in Danica Patrick. In capturing her first pole and first top ten finish at Sunday’s Daytona 500, Patrick was the catalyst for TV ratings increasing 30% over last year’s running, marking the race’s biggest audience in seven years. Patrick’s ascension couldn’t come at a better time for NASCAR.
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