Key takeaways
- A commissioner is the chief executive of a league, chosen by and answerable to the team owners.
- Baseball created the role after the Black Sox scandal; Kenesaw Mountain Landis demanded near-unlimited authority to act in the 'best interests of baseball'.
- Commissioners deal with discipline, rule changes and, in baseball's case, umpiring and the league's marketing, labour and television contracts, balancing owners, players and fans.
- Their disciplinary reach can extend to owners: in 2014 the NBA's Adam Silver banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life.
- Current holders include Rob Manfred (MLB, since 2015), Roger Goodell (NFL, since 2006) and Adam Silver (NBA, since 2014).
A league commissioner is the league's chief executive, chosen by the team owners. The title sounds like a referee, but the job is closer to a chief executive who answers to a board: the team owners. This guide explains what commissioners do, drawing on Wikipedia's histories of the office in Major League Baseball, the NFL and the NBA.
The basic job
Wikipedia describes each commissioner the same way: the chief executive of the league. In baseball, the commissioner is the chief executive of MLB and the associated Minor League Baseball system, and is chosen by a vote of the team owners. The NFL's commissioners have been elected by the owners too; Wikipedia records that Pete Rozelle won the job in 1960 after 23 ballots.
That relationship shapes everything. A commissioner is chosen by the owners, yet is expected to act for the league as a whole, including, as the examples below show, when that means ruling against an owner.
Where the office came from
Baseball invented the modern role. Wikipedia explains that the Black Sox scandal, part of a series of incidents in the late 1910s that threatened the game's integrity, led owners to reform how the sport was run. They turned to a federal judge, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who agreed only on condition that he serve as sole commissioner with nearly unlimited authority to act in the "best interests of baseball", in essence an arbitrator whose decisions could not be appealed. His first significant act was dealing with the Black Sox scandal.
The NFL's title came later: Wikipedia notes that on 17 January 1941, the owners changed the chief executive's title from "president" to "commissioner".
What commissioners actually decide
| Area | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Integrity and discipline | Investigating misconduct and punishing players, teams and even owners under league rules |
| Rules and competition | Overseeing rule changes and formats; Wikipedia notes David Stern changed the NBA Finals to a 2–3–2 format in 1985 |
| Officiating | Wikipedia notes that, under the commissioner, baseball's office hires and maintains the sport's umpiring crews |
| Business | The same office negotiates marketing, labour and television contracts |
Discipline at the top
The most striking power is over owners. Wikipedia records that three months into his tenure, the NBA's Adam Silver banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life after racist comments in a private phone conversation, fined him $2.5 million, the maximum allowed under the NBA Constitution, and urged owners to vote to expel him from ownership, which they eventually did.
How commissioners are chosen
The owners' vote is the common thread, and the histories show how varied the candidates have been. Baseball deliberately went outside the game for Landis, a federal judge, after agreeing to appoint only "non-baseball men" to its reformed governing commission. The NFL has also chosen from inside the game: Wikipedia records that on the day of his predecessor's resignation, Pittsburgh Steelers co-owner Bert Bell was elected commissioner on a three-year contract worth $20,000 a year, and that Pete Rozelle, then general manager of the Los Angeles Rams, was elected in 1960. In the NBA, Adam Silver was deputy commissioner and chief operating officer before succeeding David Stern, whose retirement was announced after a Board of Governors meeting in October 2012.
Today's commissioners
| League | Commissioner | In office since |
|---|---|---|
| MLB | Rob Manfred | 25 January 2015 |
| NFL | Roger Goodell | 1 September 2006 |
| NBA | Adam Silver | 1 February 2014 |
Wikipedia records that Manfred was elected as the tenth commissioner of baseball on 14 August 2014, and that Silver succeeded David Stern, who had held the job since 1984.
The balancing act
A commissioner balances at least three groups: the owners who choose them, the players whose conduct and careers their decisions affect, and the fans whose interest keeps the business alive. The history above shows the tension: Landis was appointed after a scandal that jeopardised the game's integrity, and Silver ruled against one of the league's own owners. Calls on discipline, rule changes or the shape of the league, such as the expansion process in expansion drafts explained, can help one group at another's expense, and the calendar is its own balancing act, as how sports schedules are made shows.
That balancing act is what our two league-simulation games turn into gameplay. In Football League Commissioner, the commissioner's office tracks league health with separate scores for owners, players and fans; the game guide explains how. Basketball League Sandbox offers a Commissioner Mode for rules, finances and schedule fairness; its guide covers it, and league sandbox versus franchise GM compares running a league with running a team. Both are among our sports career games.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Who does a sports commissioner work for?
What does 'best interests of baseball' mean?
Can a commissioner punish an owner?
Who are the current commissioners?
Sources
- Commissioner of Baseball (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
- Commissioner of the NFL (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
- Commissioner of the NBA (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
League, team and athlete names appear here only to identify the rules, records and history being discussed. Reign Creative LLC's sports games are not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by any league, team, players' association or athlete, and all names and marks belong to their owners.
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