Commissioners

Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle (March 1, 1926 – December 6, 1996) was the commissioner of the NFL from January 1960 to November 1989, when he retired from office. Rozelle is credited with making the NFL into one of the most successful sports leagues in the world. Commissioner 1960s After Bert Bell's. . . more

Paul John Tagliabue was the Commissioner of the National Football League. He took the position in 1989 and was succeeded by Roger Goodell, who was elected to the position on August 8, 2006. Tagliabue's retirement took effect on September 1, 2006. He had previously served as a lawyer for the. . . more

O'Brien, c. 1965 Larry O'Brien was appointed in 1975 by the National Basketball Association to serve nationally as its commissioner, where he directed the successful merger of the NBA with the American Basketball Association, negotiated television-broadcast agreements with CBS Television, and saw. . . more

Kenesaw Mountain Landis (November 20, 1866 – November 25, 1944) was an American jurist who served as a federal judge from 1905 to 1922, and subsequently as the first commissioner of Major League Baseball. Born in Millville, Ohio to Abraham Hoch Landis and Mary (Kumler) Landis, he died in. . . more

Clarence Sutherland Campbell (July 9, 1905 - June 24, 1984) was president of the National Hockey League from 1946 to 1977 Early life and career Born in Fleming, Saskatchewan, Campbell graduated from the University of Alberta with a degree in law and arts in 1924 and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. . . more

Frank Calder (November 17, 1877 - February 4, 1943) was the first NHL president (1917-1943). He was instrumental in the suspension of the National Hockey Association and the founding of the NHL to freeze out E. J. Livingstone, the Toronto Blueshirts franchise holder. He presided over the expansion. . . more

Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler was elected baseball's second Commissioner on April 24, 1945 by a unanimous vote of the 16 club owners. His brief six-year tenure encompassed some of the most significant developments in the game's history. Chandler was born on July 14, 1898, in Corydon, Kentucky.. . . more

Peter Ueberroth was elected to succeed Bowie Kuhn on March 3, 1984 and took office on October 1 of that year. As a condition of his hiring, Ueberroth increased the commissioner’s fining ability from $5,000 to $250,000. His salary was raised to a reported $450,000, nearly twice what Kuhn was. . . more

NFL commissioner On January 11, 1946, Bell was selected to replace Elmer Layden as NFL commissioner and subsequently sold his ownership in the Steelers after being given a three-year contract at $25,000 per year. One year later, the contract was changed to a five-year pact at the same salary, a. . . more

Bowie Kent Kuhn (October 28, 1926 – March 15, 2007) was an American lawyer and sports administrator who served as the 5th commissioner of Major League Baseball from February 4, 1969 to September 30, 1984. He served as legal counsel for Major League Baseball owners for almost 20 years prior to. . . more

In 1920 when a new professional football league known as the American Professional Football Association, with teams gaining entry via a $100 entry fee. Thorpe would pay the fee, and to give the league a public face, he was made was the league's first president. However, after just 1 year Thorpe. . . more

Roger Goodell is the Commissioner of the National Football League, having been chosen to succeed the retiring Paul Tagliabue on August 8, 2006. He was chosen over four finalists for the position, winning a close vote on the fifth ballot before being unanimously approved by acclamation of the. . . more

A distinguished lawyer Maurice Podoloff, was a man of impeccable character, and was instrumental in the development and success of professional basketball. On June 6, 1946, Podoloff, who was already serving as president of the American Hockey League, was appointed president of the newly formed. . . more

James Walter Kennedy was born in Stamford, CT in 1912 to Lottie and Michael Kennedy. He was striken with polio early on, which left him with a disability and therefore unable to compete in sports. Nonetheless, he was an avid fan and his entire life and career was devoted to sports, coming to a. . . more

General William D. Eckert was elected baseball's fourth Commissioner on November 17, 1965 by a unanimous vote of the 20 major league club owners. Eckert was born on January 20, 1909 in Freeport, IL and grew up in Madison, IN. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in June 1930. It. . . more

A. Bartlett Giamatti was elected to a five-year term as baseball's seventh Commissioner on September 8, 1988 by a unanimous vote of the 26 club owners. Born in Boston, MA on April 4, 1938, Giamatti attended Yale University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in English in. . . more

Ford Christopher Frick (December 19, 1894 – April 8, 1978) was an American sportswriter and executive who served as president of the National League from 1934 to 1951 and as the 3rd Baseball Commissioner from 1951 to 1965. His most highly criticized decision as commissioner was to convince. . . more

No one better understood the necessity of bringing some order to early-day professional football than Joe Carr, a former Columbus, Ohio newspaperman and manager of pro football’s Columbus Panhandles. Carr's persistence finally paid off when, in 1920, the American Professional Football. . . more

Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent, Jr. (born May 29, 1938 in Waterbury, Connecticut) is a former entertainment lawyer and sports executive who served as the 8th commissioner of Major League Baseball from September 13, 1989 to September 7, 1992. He is a graduate of The Hotchkiss School and Williams. . . more

In 1943 Red Dutton agreed to serve as president of the NHL after the sudden death of Frank Calder. Dutton was promised by the league's Board of Governors that after the war he would be given an NHL franchise to re-establish hockey in Brooklyn. As president he stated that he could see the day when. . . more

Carl Storck (born January 22 , 1887 - November , 1967 ) served as president of the National Football League from 1939 until 1941.. . . more

David Joel Stern has been commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since 1984, when control transitioned from the previous commissioner, Larry O'Brien. Stern began his association with the NBA in 1966 as outside counsel, joined the NBA in 1978 as General Counsel and became the. . . more

During his NHL presidency, John Ziegler steered the league through a both tumultuous and exciting period. A lawyer by profession, he was often required to use every ounce of his savvy and resolve to face the contemporary problems of professional hockey. John Ziegler was born in Grosse Pointe,. . . more

Austin Gunsel (April 2, 1909 - June 17, 1974) is best remembered for serving as the National Football League's interim commissioner following the death of Bert Bell on October 11, 1959. A native of Irvington, New Jersey and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Gunsel joined the Federal. . . more

Gilbert Stein (b. 1928) is a former National Hockey League executive, serving as vice-president and legal counsel for nearly 15 years before becoming president in 1992. He served in that role for a year and left the league in disgrace after being found to have manipulated his own election to the. . . more

Gary Bruce Bettman is a lawyer who has served as commissioner of the National Hockey League since February 1, 1993. NHL Bettman was hired as the first NHL Commissioner (the position was formerly styled as president) to try to give the NHL some of the same success that the NBA was enjoying in the. . . more

Bud Selig Allan H. (Bud) Selig was elected the ninth Commissioner of Baseball on July 9, 1998 by a unanimous vote of the 30 Major League Baseball club owners. Selig was born on July 30, 1934 in Milwaukee and received a bachelor's degree in American History and Political Science from the. . . more