The Most Famous
REFEREES from United States
This page contains a list of the greatest American Referees. The pantheon dataset contains 147 Referees, 3 of which were born in United States. This makes United States the birth place of the 15th most number of Referees behind Portugal, and Argentina.
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary American Referees of all time. This list of famous American Referees is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.
1. Mark Geiger (b. 1974)
With an HPI of 48.26, Mark Geiger is the most famous American Referee. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.
Mark William Geiger (born August 25, 1974) is an American sports administrator and former soccer referee. He is the senior director of match officials at the Professional Referee Organization (PRO), which oversees domestic referees in Major League Soccer (MLS). Geiger previously officiated in MLS and was on the FIFA International Referees List from 2008 to 2019. At the international level, Geiger refereed the 2012 Olympics, the 2013, 2015, and 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cups, and the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups. At the 2014 World Cup, he became the first referee from the United States to officiate a knockout match at a World Cup tournament. Before becoming a full-time referee, Geiger was a high school mathematics teacher.
2. Matthew Conger (b. 1978)
With an HPI of 44.84, Matthew Conger is the 2nd most famous American Referee. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Matthew Conger (born 11 October 1978) is a retired New Zealand football referee from Palmerston North. Born in Texas, United States, Conger operated in the Australian A-League and the New Zealand Football Championship. He is a former school teacher from Palmerston North who now works for Sport Manawatu.
3. Jair Marrufo (b. 1977)
With an HPI of 42.03, Jair Marrufo is the 3rd most famous American Referee. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Jair Marrufo (born June 7, 1977) is an American soccer referee. He has been a referee in Major League Soccer since 2002 and a FIFA referee from 2007 to 2022.
4. Mike Chioda (b. 1966)
With an HPI of 39.31, Mike Chioda is the 4th most famous American Referee. His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.
Michael Joseph Canzano (born 1 August 1966) known by his ring name Mike Chioda, is an American semi-retired professional wrestling senior referee who worked for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Before his release on 15 April 2020, Chioda was the longest-tenured referee in WWE history, having been with the company for over three decades.
People
Pantheon has 4 people classified as American referees born between 1966 and 1978. Of these 4, 4 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living American referees include Mark Geiger, Matthew Conger, and Jair Marrufo. As of April 2024, 1 new American referees have been added to Pantheon including Mike Chioda.
Living American Referees
Go to all Rankings
Mark Geiger
1974 - Present
HPI: 48.26
Matthew Conger
1978 - Present
HPI: 44.84
Jair Marrufo
1977 - Present
HPI: 42.03
Mike Chioda
1966 - Present
HPI: 39.31
