NEW YORK (FORTUNE) -- Two new candidates from outside the NFL have emerged as the search for the National Football League's next commissioner narrowed to 11 semi-finalists in Detroit earlier this week.

Joseph Leccese, a partner at Proskauer Rose who has worked for several NFL teams, and Dan Doctoroff, the architect of New York City's failed 2012 Olympic bid, are among the candidates from outside the league, Fortune has learned.

The final eleven also includes: NFL chief operating officer Roger Goodell, the frontrunner throughout the process; the league's EVP of finance and strategic transactions Eric Grubman, considered a strong dark horse candidate; and former FCC chairman Michael Powell. (The owner of one big-market team has already told Fortune that Goodell will get his vote.)

The NFL's search committee, headed by Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney and Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, is working now to get the list down to four names before meeting in Chicago for three days beginning August 7 to choose Paul Tagliabue's successor. It's likely that two of the four finalists will come from inside the league.

In Chicago, each owner will have 90 minutes to grill the finalists. A two-thirds vote is needed to win.

The initial wish list, compiled by headhunter Korn/Ferry over the past few months, included 186 names.

Leccese's name did not arise during the frenzied speculation that followed Tagliabue's March announcement that he would step down after an exemplary 17-year tenure, but he's an interesting choice. A partner in Proskauer Rose's corporate practice, based in New York, he has extensive experience with professional sports leagues that dates back to 1987.

He represented Robert Wood Johnson IV in his acquisition of the New York Jets, and Jeffrey Lurie in his purchase of the Philadelphia Eagles. Leccese continues to represent both teams on a limited basis, according to Proskauer Rose, and has previously worked for the National Basketball League and the National Hockey League as well.

Leccese, who would not comment to Fortune, was also involved in the Jets' ballyhooed, yet ultimately aborted attempt to bring a sports stadium to Manhattan's West Side. He's well versed in stadium finance, expansion, and new media, which are all critical skills in today's NFL. And at 45, he's young enough to serve for a decade or more, which is what the owners want.

Doctoroff, meanwhile, serves under New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the city's deputy mayor for economic development. A Harvard grad with a law degree, his NYC2012 campaign committee was a who's-who of Manhattan power players in business, sports, politics, technology, and advertising.

His ties to the NFL as not as close as Leccese's, but then, Doctoroff didn't have any connection to Big Apple politics before Bloomberg convinced him to join his team at City Hall. (Like Bloomberg, he's not a native New Yorker.) And in another parallel with Bloomberg, Doctoroff, 48, does have Wall Street experience, having worked for Lehman Brothers.

With today's NFL resembling more of a business than a sport, that sort of resume is sure to make an impression on the owners.