TIME Magazine published its inaugural list of the 100 most influential figures in sports on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
The special issue honors athletes, coaches, and executives across four categories: Icons, Titans, Innovators, and Leaders.
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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James appears on the cover and is designated as "Athlete of the Century" in the Icons category.
TIME Editor in Chief Sam Jacobs explained the rationale behind the list, noting that sports remains a unique realm where massive global audiences gather in real time.
"In our increasingly fragmented media environment, sports remains one of the last realms in which massive global audiences gather together in real time," Jacobs said.
He added that external industries are gravitating toward live athletics, and athletes have seized larger platforms.
The Leaders category includes Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who rose to prominence after a historic college football season.
TIME senior correspondent Sean Gregory detailed Mendoza's journey from a college transfer to the No. 1 NFL Draft pick.
"Fernando Mendoza accomplished one of the great surprise college-football feats: he won a national championship and Heisman Trophy as quarterback for Indiana, a basketball school with so little football tradition that, before Mendoza's arrival in 2025, the Hoosiers hadn't played in a Rose Bowl since 1968," Gregory wrote.
Mendoza led Indiana to a 16-0 record, the first 16-win season in college football since 1894, and threw 41 touchdown passes.
