Slive Earned $2.1M In '08-09 FY, Including A $1M Bonus

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive earned $2.1M in the FY that ended on Aug. 31, 2009, which included a $1M bonus, a $972,396 base salary and $160,750 in deferred compensation, according to IRS documents cited by Kyle Veazey of the Jackson CLARION-LEDGER. Slive's bonus "came in the fiscal year immediately following the league's landmark 15-year television deals with ESPN and CBS that are worth" a reported $3B. SEC President Lee Todd, who also serves as President of the Univ. of Kentucky, said that the SEC's presidents "unanimously voted to extend Slive the bonus -- and that the league's massive new television deal was 'probably the predominant driver' in extending" the $1M. The conference in the '08-09 FY also paid TV consultant Chuck Gerber $2M and Charlotte-based law firm Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson "just over half a million." Meanwhile, Veazey noted the SEC's filings "paint a picture of a league that is, in Slive's words, 'financially sound,'" and those filings "came before the league signed new television deals that promise to pour even more money into the league's coffers." The SEC distributed $156.3M to its members in '08-09, which represents about 88% of its expenses. Mississippi State received the largest share, slightly over $14M. SEC schools received a "larger than normal revenue split in 2008-09 due to the league holding a payment from early in its old CBS contract, letting it earn interest and paying it in the last year of the contract." The conference made $78.8M from postseason events and spent $6.2M to stage them. The SEC also earned $60.1M from its television and XM Radio deals, as well as $4.8M from sponsorships (Jackson CLARION-LEDGER, 5/23).