Overall compensation incurred by the ouster of Klinsmann and his staff would end up costing $6.2Mgetty images
The release of U.S. Soccer's tax filings for FY '18 show that the federation paid former USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who was fired in November '16, $3.354M for the "last year of his contract," which ran until the end of the '18 FIFA World Cup, according to Steven Goff of the WASHINGTON POST. Klinsmann's firing left U.S. Soccer "on the hook for another 20 months." He "received the balance of his salary" for FY '17, then "collected the settlement amount last year." Klinsmann's chief assistant, Andreas Herzog, "received a settlement of $355,537 last year." In June '17, the federation said that the "overall compensation incurred by the ouster of Klinsmann and his staff would end up costing" $6.2M. U.S. Soccer also had to "settle with Klinsmann’s replacement, Bruce Arena," who had a base salary of $899,348 and, after resigning in October '17, "received another $300,000." U.S. Soccer Senior Manager of Communications Neil Buethe said that the federation "no longer owes money to Klinsmann, Herzog and Arena." Herzog’s income "was $64,000 more than the amount earned" by women's national team coach Jill Ellis, whose base salary was $291,029. Buethe said that Ellis in '18 "signed a new contract in which she received a 'substantial increase.'" The highest-paid U.S. Soccer official is CEO Dan Flynn, who "received $684,617 in base compensation and $130,000 in bonuses." Including other benefits, he "took home $836,517" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/19).
BY THE NUMBERS: SOCCER AMERICA's Paul Kennedy notes as of last March 31, U.S. Soccer had net assets of $162,738,719, an increase of almost $100M in five years, from $64,096,906. More than two-thirds of that increase comes from one event, the '16 Copa Centenario, which brought a "windfall to the tune of almost" $72M. U.S. Soccer in '18 reported revenues of $123,592,803, resulting in a net profit of $10,914,302. Revenues from sponsorship and royalties in '18 were $51,985,903, with $27,249,999 coming from payments from Soccer United Marketing. Those revenues were up from $48,887,978 in '17, including $26,500,000 in SUM payments. Revenues from the national teams, international games and the U.S. Open Cup in '18 were $31,483,992, down from $33,122,459 in '17 (SOCCERAMERICA.com, 2/19).
