The bad news is that, in 2013, Commissioner Roger Goodell made $9 million less than he earned in 2012. The good news is he still earned a ton of money.
As reported by Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal, and confirmed by PFT, Goodell made more than $35 million in 2013. His total compensation for the 2013 calendar year consisted of a base salary of $3.487 million and bonus and incentive compensation of $31.114 million. Along with “other reportable compensation” of $341,000, retirement and other deferred compensation of $34,000, and nontaxable benefits of $41,000, that’s $35,017,000.
“The Commissioner’s total compensation in 2013 is a fair reflection of his leadership and contributions during the year,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank, chair of the compensation committee, said in a statement issued to Kaplan. “Compensation packages for Roger and other senior executives are reviewed annually; accordingly, the compensation committee will conduct a thoughtful review and make a determination of 2014 compensation in March.”
Given that 2014 was a horrible year for the Commissioner -- and in light of the anger recently displayed by Patriots owner Robert Kraft regarding the handling of the #DeflateGate scandal by the office over which Goodell presides -- chances are the drop in compensation will be more than $9 million for 2014. Blank, Kraft, and Panthers owner Jerry Richardson make up the compensation committee.
Elsewhere at 345 Park Avenue, general counsel Jeff Pash earned $7.505 million in 2013. Steve Bornstein, the former executive V.P. of NFL Media, made $5.18 million. Executive V.P. of business ventures Eric Grubman earned $3.828 million, CFO Joseph Sinclaire made $2.437 million, executive V.P. of human resources Robert Gulliver was paid $2.236 million, and former executive V.P. of football operations Ray Anderson earned $1.833 million.
Federal law required the NFL to disclose the compensation of its key employees as part of the league office’s tax-exempt status.