2021 Champion For Equality Award Recipient

Published on October 10th, 2021

Larry Scott

Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images

Throughout his career, Larry Scott has been a bold, innovative leader with a vision for transformative change. From fighting for equal prize money at Wimbledon to creating the Pac-12 Networks, which exponentially grew the broadcast of collegiate women’s sports, and co-creating a fund designed to recruit and retain more women in collegiate coaching — these achievements and more propelled Larry Scott to be named our 2021 Champion for Equality Award recipient.

In his most recent role as Pac-12 Commissioner, Scott orchestrated an unprecedented revitalization of the conference, including but not limited to: transforming both its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments into must-attend events; creating Pac-12 Networks, the first integrated media company owned by a collegiate conference, and one that dramatically increased exposure for women’s and Olympic sports. Scott also was the impetus for the WSF to honor the remarkable career of Stanford Women’s Basketball Coach, Tara VanDerveer. In partnership with the WSF, he established the Tara VanDerveer Fund for the Advancement of Women in Coaching, specifically designed to help build the pipeline of women coaches – a critical need, given the paucity of women in collegiate coaching positions. 

Prior to joining the Pac-12, Scott served for six years as Chairman and CEO of the Sony Ericsson Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, where he helped generate unprecedented growth and popularity for women’s professional tennis on a global scale. Scott worked with WSF Founder Billie Jean King and others to achieve the long-sought goal of equal prize money for women in tennis’ grand slam events. He also became the architect of the largest-ever sponsorship in both women’s sports and professional tennis, a six-year $88-million title sponsorship agreement with Sony Ericsson. His many other WTA achievements include the largest television deal in women’s tennis history, a reform package that led to a 40 percent increase in prize money and $750 million in facilities investments, and a partnership with UNESCO to support gender equity around the world.

Larry Scott has been a finalist for the Sports Executive of the Year Award given by Sports Business Journal and was awarded the Vision Award by Cynopsis Sports. He was also honored with the Americanism Award by the Anti-Defamation League, in tribute to his mission of fostering positive change through sports, and where he currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors.

Read more about our Awards >>