U
Ueberroth, Peter
Identification President of the 1984 Summer
Olympics and commissioner of Major League
Baseball, 1984-1989
Born September 2, 1937; Evanston, Illinois
Ueberroth brought an entrepreneurial spirit to his position
as the president of the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics,
which resulted in a major financial windfall for the Olym-
pics. Later, as commissioner of Major League Baseball,
Ueberroth instituted a zero tolerance drug policy for baseball
players and resolved other labor issues.
Peter Ueberroth, a multimillionaire and travel in-
dustry executive, served as the president of the 1984
Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games. As an entre-
preneur, Ueberroth brought business acumen to the
Games. His negotiations with the American Broad-
casting Company (ABC) television network to air
the Summer Olympics resulted in
revenue of $225 million. He raised
$150 million from foreign televi-
sion corporations, and he increased
the number of corporate sponsor-
ships to the Olympics Games. Ue-
berroth accomplished all this de-
spite a boycott led by the Soviet
Union. As a result of his hard-nosed
managerial approach, he turned a
multimillion-dollar profit for the
Olympics, the first time the Games
made a profit in over fifty years.
Ueberroth also lent his time and
expertise to public affairs. He
served on several of President Ron-
ald Reagan’s presidential commit-
tees to address some national social
issues, and he was tapped by Lee
Iacocca, president of Chrysler Cor-
poration, to join the commission
for the restoration of the Statue of
Liberty.
After his tenure as president of the 1984 Summer
Olympics, Ueberroth took office as the sixth com-
missioner of Major League Baseball (MLB) on Octo-
ber 1, 1984. He approached baseball with the same
passion and problem-solving skills with which he
had approached the Olympics Games. At that time,
MLB faced several challenges and controversies.
Ueberroth resolved these issues and returned base-
ball to its prominent position as America’s favorite
sport. In March, 1985, he reinstated baseball Hall of
Famers Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, who had
been banned from the sport because of their associa-
tion with Atlantic City casinos.
In 1985, Ueberroth arbitrated a labor dispute be-
tween team owners and the Major League Baseball
Players Association union regarding the issue of free
agents; however, the players later filed charges of
collusion (which Ueberroth had facilitated) against
the team owners and won. In February, 1986, show-Peter Ueberroth, right, leads International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio
Samaranch through the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before the opening ceremonies
of the 1984 Summer Olympics.(AP/Wide World Photos)