Jeremy Jacobs - Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

Jacobs is well known in the sports industry, including being listed for several years in a row as one of Sports Business Journal's Most Influential People in Sports. He was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in Western New York in October, 2006.

Since 1975, Jacobs has owned the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins. Jacobs represents the club on the NHL's Board of Governors and serves on its Executive Committee. At the NHL Board of Governors meeting in June 2007, Jacobs was elected Chairman of the Board, replacing the Calgary Flames' Harley Hotchkiss, who stepped down after 12 years in the position. Jacobs played a pivotal role in the finalization of the last CBA.

The NHL has referred to Jacobs as the driving force behind getting the Winter Classic to Boston on January 1, 2010.

After years of disappointing on-ice performance by the hockey club, Jacobs made changes in management of the Bruins, with the retirement of veteran team president Harry Sinden from active management of the team into an advisory capacity. New management included Peter Chiarelli and head coach Claude Julien. Cam Neely, a former Bruin player, was also lured back to the new organization and was recently named by Jacobs as President.

In recent years, the changes have paid dividends. The Bruins record in the 2008-2009 season was the second best in the NHL. Several of the Bruins players, along with Julien, received honors post season. The 2010 season also saw strong performance in the playoffs by the Bruins, and in 2011, the Bruins won their first Stanley Cup in 39 years, beating the Vancouver Canucks in a seven game series.

Jacobs is also known as one of the most reviled owners in professional sports and a driving force behind the NHL's numerous lockouts in the last 20 years. When the NHL owners locked the players out in 2012, Jacobs was described as one of the lockout's "most villainous" characters and a "bully", reportedly hated by the players.