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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Show Me The Money: NFL Tax Returns Show Roger Goodell Earned $34M In '14

The NFL paid Commissioner Roger Goodell $34.07M in '14, according to the league’s most-recent annual tax return and a league spokesperson. The return was filed today, and it notes compensation for Goodell for a year in which off-field player domestic violence scandals roiled the league and sparked calls from some for the commissioner’s ouster. However, much of the pay was set in '13, before those noted scandals involving Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy rocked the sport. The compensation includes a $26.5M bonus, which the NFL owners compensation committee set in '13. Additionally, the '14 compensation for Goodell compares to $35M earned in '13 and $44.2M for the 12 months before that. The $35M compensation for '13 represented $4M in salary and $31M in bonus pay. That larger sum included $9M in deferred pension and bonus money Goodell had earned the previous year. Goodell’s compensation has become an increasing source of media criticism and public scrutiny, particularly in the context of negative off-field headlines for the league. That friction ultimately led the NFL last year to change its tax-filing status to taxable, meaning it will no longer have to submit these annual tax filings that reveal the commissioner’s pay. This newly filed return is the last the league is required by law to disclose. Despite the public criticism, from the owners’ perspective, there have been clear reasons for Goodell to maintain his pay. Among them: the past year saw NFL revenue increase more than $1B, for an annual sum that is now in excess of $13B. Goodell also has served has as a bulwark between an at-times outraged public and the owners.

OTHER COMPENSATION FIGURES: Other notable compensation figures included in the latest tax return include those for general counsel Jeff Pash ($7.5M), Exec VP/Business Ventures Eric Grubman ($3.89M) and former head of media Steve Bornstein ($14.8M). The Bornstein money is deferred pay and includes some that was included on previous tax returns. The return also shows league office revenue at $618.97M, a huge surge from $294M the previous year. A league official said that is due to accounting for the league’s stadium finance pool and teams’ payments back to the league being reflected in the fiscal year of the latest return. The total means the league posted a surplus of $237.2M in the last fiscal year it was structured as a not-for-profit.

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