The True Job of a Sports Commissioner

In partnership with

REALLY? THE KNICKS?

Sigh. Whatever.

We're a week away from Memorial Day. Please let us know what you want from the annual Memorial Day issue.

This week: a 50 second read on sports commissioners today. We’re holding off on an NBA Playoff revenue sharing deep dive. Just need to work on it a bit more.

The Quiet KPI Behind Every Commissioner

Ask any league commissioner what their job is, and you’ll hear familiar answers: “Protect the game,” “Ensure fair play,” or “Grow the sport.” But peel back the curtain, and you’ll find a very different mandate—one that’s clearer to those in boardrooms than those in bleachers: maximize team valuations.

Receive Honest News Today

Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.

Sign up today!

Capital First, Narrative Second

The owners who employ commissioners aren’t measuring integrity or fan sentiment. They’re tracking compound annual growth rates in franchise value. And by that score, modern commissioners are smashing it. Roger Goodell’s NFL has ballooned from an average team value of $850M in 2006 to over $4.5B in 2024. Adam Silver’s NBA saw team values grow from $400M to north of $3.2B. These figures aren’t flukes—they're the product of strategic media rights deals, expansion into global markets, and labor negotiations ...

Even controversial governance decisions (like the NFL’s response to player protests or the NBA’s navigation of Chinese partnerships) are best understood as risk-managed brand preservation, not moral stands. The underlying directive is clear: preserve the league’s market dominance, prevent valuation-destroying chaos, and secure generational wealth for owners.

Still, this doesn't mean competitive integrity or social image don’t matter—they’re tools toward maximizing valuation. They are necessary levers to maintain trust, viewership, and political favor, all of which affect bottom-line valuation metrics.

The Business Model Beneath the Brand

The commissioner’s job is not to be beloved. It is to be indispensable to owners. That means defending the moat around their investment—against external capital (e.g., sovereign wealth funds), internal volatility (player empowerment, scandals), and external threats (public criticism, political regulation). Understanding this helps decode why commissioners act the way they do.

It’s not personal. It’s portfolio management.