"The New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees (No. 1), Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers (No. 2) and New England Patriot's Tom Brady (No. 3) top the Bloomberg Businessweek/Horrow Sports Ventures 2012 Power 100 ranking of the most powerful professional athletes in the U.S. To determine who the 100 most powerful athletes are on- and off-the-field going into 2012.

As the business of sports continues to grow, endorsement contracts increasingly impact players, teams, and the industry. These contracts take into consideration many of the same factors as the Power 100 ranking - performance, name awareness, appeal, influence, trustworthiness and overall popularity, among other things. Social media, for example, played a role in boosting the rankings of such athletes as LeBron James (No. 4) and Shaquille O'Neal (No.7). The Power 100 rankings are based 50 percent on these on "off-field" measurements, and 50 percent on "on-field" performance using a variety of industry statistics."