NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

[hawaiiansteel]

League releases salary info for top executives
ProFootballTalk


Roger Goodell wasn't the only NFL executive to take a pay cut last year, but the amount other top earners at the league made was always a mystery. Until now.

Because of new disclosure rules for executive pay by the IRS, the NFL revealed the compensation of their top operatives to Daniel Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal. (The information would have become public eventually.) The numbers are eye-opening.

In the fiscal year that ended in March 31, 2009, Goodell earned $9.76 million between bonuses and salary. Here are the next highest salaries in the NFL universe.

Steve Bornstein, head of NFL Media and NFL Network: $7.44 million in total compensation.

Jeff Pash, chief labor negotiator and general counsel: $4.85 million.

Eric Grubman, executive VP who oversees marketing and sponsorships: $4.44 million.

Former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, outside consultant: $3.3 million.

Joe Browne, executive VP of communications: $1.7 million

Ray Anderson, executive VP of football operations: $1.12 million.

Anthony Noto, COO: $853,000.

A league source tells PFT's Mike Florio that employees of the 32 teams are bracing for the reaction to these numbers. It's widely believed that most of the owners had no idea regarding the magnitude of some of these compensation packages. (Robert Kraft is not in this group.)

Perhaps anticipating this, the league sent a memo to every team reminding them that the figures above did not reflect the most recent year.

"All of the above executives received no base salary increase in 2009 and received an annual bonus in April 2009 that was lower than the prior year. These decisions were made at a time when the NFL offered employees buyouts and eliminated other job positions."

We are very interested to hear the NFLPA's response to the news.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

when the players see these types of salaries for the NFL executives, don't you think it will be hard for the owners to convince the players to take a pay cut?


Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - 2/13/10

NFL Notebook: Goodell gets new contract to provide stability




NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was given a new five-year contract as the league heads into a key period of labor negotiations that could lead to a work stoppage in 2011.

Goodell replaced Paul Tagliabue Sept. 1, 2006, and his contract was due to expire this September. The NFL said Friday that owners voted to award the new contract when they met in December, and his new deal runs until March 2015.

"We're going into a major negotiation. It will be very difficult probably in many ways and we want to have someone who has his own views, who's going to have to make some hard decisions that maybe some of us won't like," New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in a telephone interview.

"But in the end, I think we're confident that he and his team will do what's for the best long-term interest of the league," said Kraft, a member of the league's compensation committee. "Having stability in our management team is critical."

Goodell's new deal and the NFL's latest federal tax filing were first reported Friday by Sports Business Journal, and the league then released the information to The Associated Press.

Next season, the last in the current agreement, is on track to be played without a salary cap. NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith said last week the union views the chance of a lockout as a "14" on a scale of 1 to 10. That would end a streak of labor peace since the 1987 strike led to the cancellation of 14 games and three weeks of play with replacement players.

While all terms of the new deal have not been completed, Goodell's annual compensation will be unchanged, said Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who chairs the compensation committee.

The NFL said a year ago that Goodell voluntarily took a cut of 20 to 25 percent, and that he and other league executives were freezing their salaries for 2009. That announcement was made at the same time the league announced it cut 169 jobs through buyouts, layoffs and other staff reductions, a drop of just over 15 percent of a work force that had been 1,100.

The tax return for the year ending last March 31 showed Goodell made $9,759,000, of which $2.9 million was salary and $6.55 million bonus and incentive compensation.

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

League releases salary info for top executives
ProFootballTalk


Roger Goodell wasn't the only NFL executive to take a pay cut last year, but the amount other top earners at the league made was always a mystery. Until now.

Because of new disclosure rules for executive pay by the IRS, the NFL revealed the compensation of their top operatives to Daniel Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal. (The information would have become public eventually.) The numbers are eye-opening.

In the fiscal year that ended in March 31, 2009, Goodell earned $9.76 million between bonuses and salary. Here are the next highest salaries in the NFL universe.

Steve Bornstein, head of NFL Media and NFL Network: $7.44 million in total compensation.

Jeff Pash, chief labor negotiator and general counsel: $4.85 million.

Eric Grubman, executive VP who oversees marketing and sponsorships: $4.44 million.

Former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, outside consultant: $3.3 million.

Joe Browne, executive VP of communications: $1.7 million

Ray Anderson, executive VP of football operations: $1.12 million.

Anthony Noto, COO: $853,000.

A league source tells PFT's Mike Florio that employees of the 32 teams are bracing for the reaction to these numbers. It's widely believed that most of the owners had no idea regarding the magnitude of some of these compensation packages. (Robert Kraft is not in this group.)

Perhaps anticipating this, the league sent a memo to every team reminding them that the figures above did not reflect the most recent year.

"All of the above executives received no base salary increase in 2009 and received an annual bonus in April 2009 that was lower than the prior year. These decisions were made at a time when the NFL offered employees buyouts and eliminated other job positions."

We are very interested to hear the NFLPA's response to the news.

These seem like very large #s to me. , this is Goldman Sachs or something?

And what does that mean that most of the OWNERS had no idea these guys were raking it in like this? , I thought these were supposed to be smart businessmen? And somehow Robert Kraft had some inside info the others didn't have?

That's my favorite word tonight - . See!!

[snarky]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

They don't seem like large salaries to me. I mean, it's a lot of money for sure but assuming they (the owners) feel Goodell is CEO caliber then it is probably somewhat low (if you ask me) because there is no stock for them to give him options on.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

Greed destroys...be it football teams or nations.

[Jom112]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

They don't seem like large salaries to me. I mean, it's a lot of money for sure but assuming they (the owners) feel Goodell is CEO caliber then it is probably somewhat low (if you ask me) because there is no stock for them to give him options on.

I was thinking the same thing. Goodell's number includes bonuses so I don't think it's too bad for the head of a multi-billion dollar industry to be making slightly under $10 mill per year.

There are a good amount of players making more than that every year. Heck Laveranues Coles made over $9 mil last year...

[birtikidis]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

what did goodell get a bonus for? that's strange. did he get like a million for moving a game out of the country? a million for the lack of a new CBA? a million for allowing a team to cheat and get away with it scott free?

[feltdizz]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

While it's not a lot for a billion dollar company CEO it still puts the salaries in perspective when you think about the physical aspect of the sport.

[phillyesq]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

They don't seem like large salaries to me. I mean, it's a lot of money for sure but assuming they (the owners) feel Goodell is CEO caliber then it is probably somewhat low (if you ask me) because there is no stock for them to give him options on.

I was thinking the same thing. Goodell's number includes bonuses so I don't think it's too bad for the head of a multi-billion dollar industry to be making slightly under $10 mill per year.

There are a good amount of players making more than that every year. Heck Laveranues Coles made over $9 mil last year...

That was my first though. $9 million seems like a pretty reasonable salary for the commissioner of the NFL. I would guess that most CEOs running organizations of the same size probably make considerably more.

[papillon]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

They don't seem like large salaries to me. I mean, it's a lot of money for sure but assuming they (the owners) feel Goodell is CEO caliber then it is probably somewhat low (if you ask me) because there is no stock for them to give him options on.

I was thinking the same thing. Goodell's number includes bonuses so I don't think it's too bad for the head of a multi-billion dollar industry to be making slightly under $10 mill per year.

There are a good amount of players making more than that every year. Heck Laveranues Coles made over $9 mil last year...

That was my first though. $9 million seems like a pretty reasonable salary for the commissioner of the NFL. I would guess that most CEOs running organizations of the same size probably make considerably more.

I'm not sure about salary, but with stock and options included any CEO running a billion dollar company is making at least twice that amount.

Pappy

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

I knew it was just a matter of time...



Ray Edwards questions Goodell's salary

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 16, 2010 11:52 AM ET


Minnesota Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards is one of the 200-plus players who won't be unrestricted free agents as the NFL heads into an uncapped year in 2010, and he's not happy that restricted free agency will severely limit how much money he can make this year.

And he's especially unhappy that he's going to make a whole lot less than NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

"I don't see him out there getting hit or nothing like that," Edwards told Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune. "The commissioner makes $9 million, so you tell me where the balance is? He doesn't put his life on the line, he pushes a pen."

As Matt Snyder of FanHouse pointed out, Goodell is the NFL's top management employee, while Edwards is nowhere near the NFL's top labor employee, so if Edwards is comparing himself with Goodell, he's a bit off base. Also, we hate to break it to Edwards, but Goodell actually made closer to $10 million in the last fiscal year.

But Edwards' frustration is hardly surprising. As the NFL heads into the uncapped year, he's one of 200-plus players who is sure to be frustrated.

[phillyesq]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

I knew it was just a matter of time...



Ray Edwards questions Goodell's salary

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 16, 2010 11:52 AM ET


Minnesota Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards is one of the 200-plus players who won't be unrestricted free agents as the NFL heads into an uncapped year in 2010, and he's not happy that restricted free agency will severely limit how much money he can make this year.

And he's especially unhappy that he's going to make a whole lot less than NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

"I don't see him out there getting hit or nothing like that," Edwards told Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune. "The commissioner makes $9 million, so you tell me where the balance is? He doesn't put his life on the line, he pushes a pen."

As Matt Snyder of FanHouse pointed out, Goodell is the NFL's top management employee, while Edwards is nowhere near the NFL's top labor employee, so if Edwards is comparing himself with Goodell, he's a bit off base. Also, we hate to break it to Edwards, but Goodell actually made closer to $10 million in the last fiscal year.

But Edwards' frustration is hardly surprising. As the NFL heads into the uncapped year, he's one of 200-plus players who is sure to be frustrated.

A dumb, yet predictable response. I bet most people have never heard of Ray Edwards, and I'm also quite certain that Goodell, for better or for worse, has a much larger impact on the game than he does.

[ikestops85]

Re: NFL releases top executives' salaries- Goodell $9.76 million

what did goodell get a bonus for? that's strange. did he get like a million for moving a game out of the country? a million for the lack of a new CBA? a million for allowing a team to cheat and get away with it scott free?

That's an easy one to answer. All those fines levied for illegal hits went towards Roger's bonus.