Bloomberg, Horrow Sports Ventures: LeBron James named most powerful sports athlete

Heat forward LeBron James was named the most powerful athlete in the world by Bloomberg. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Miami Heat forward LeBron James has had an incredible last 12 months: an Olympic Gold medal, NBA championship, and he was named Sports Illustrated's "Sportsman of the Year."

Now according to Bloomberg and Horrow Sports Ventures, James is the most powerful sports athlete in the world, topping the Power 100 list of 2013.

Rounding out the top five are golfer Tiger Woods, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning,  New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and tennis star Roger Federer. James is the only one in the top five that is under 30 years of age.

The league's reigning Most Valuable Player has led his team to the Eastern Conference's best record this season, while averaging 26.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.1 assists a game. He is also shooting 55 percent from the field.

To determine who the 100 most powerful athletes are on- and off-the-field going into 2013, Rick Horrow, host of Bloomberg TV “Sportfolio” and CEO of Horrow Sports Ventures, collaborated with CSE, a leading integrated marketing agency that created the Power 100 list for the fourth consecutive year using proprietary methodology; the Nielsen/E-Poll N-Score; and BSports. The Power 100 rankings are based 50% on these on “off-field” measurements, and 50% on “on-field” performance using a variety of industry statistics.