NFL commissioner Roger Goodell 'was paid $128million in salary and bonuses the last two years' after securing 10-year labor pact with players and $113billion in media rights deals
Thanks largely to new media deals worth more than $113 billion over the next decade, and a new collective bargaining agreement with players that promises to maintain labor peace over that time, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell earned $128 million in salary and bonuses over the last two years, it has been revealed.
According to The New York Times, Goodell's compensation was discussed during this week's meetings with league owners in New York. On Wednesday, during one meeting, a slide was displayed showing the Commissioner's pay: nearly $128 million for 2019-20 and 2020-21, or $63.9 million per season.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy declined to comment on the report to DailyMail.com.
Thanks largely to new media deals worth more than $113 billion over the next decade, and a new collective bargaining agreement with players that promises to maintain labor peace over that time, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell earned $128 million in salary and bonuses over the last two years, it has been revealed
Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth on stage before a game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on December 30, 2018 in Nashville
Wednesday, owners were told that Goodell's bonuses, which made up 90 percent of his pay, were based largely on the labor and media rights deals, four sources told the Times.
Goodell's salary makes him among the highest-paid executives in the country, according to the Times.
His compensation is determined by various committees of NFL team owners, but that represents a recent change.
Previously, the compensation committee would suggest a number and then owners would vote on approving it.
Now, after signing a five-year deal worth up to $200 million that started in 2019, Goodell's year-to-year salary is based largely on bonuses tied to the league's financial goals. The various owners committees then determine if he's met those targets.
Byron Pringle of the Kansas City Chiefs makes a catch in the fourth quarter against the Tennessee Titans in the game at Nissan Stadium on October 24 in Nashville
Goodell's work with the media rights deals and the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) are inextricably linked.
The labor deal, which was narrowly passed in March of 2020, added a 17th regular season game for each team, thereby increasing the overall value of the league's media rights offerings.
A year later, Goodell effectively doubled the league's annual media revenue to $10 billion a season with a slew of new agreements that included a deal to give exclusive 'Thursday Night Football' rights to Amazon Prime beginning in 2022.
The deals were a major win for Goodell, who, in 2010, said he aimed for the NFL to earn $25 billion annually by 2027.
'I'd say this sets Roger Goodell apart from his predecessors [Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue],' Syracuse media professor and former ESPN producer Dennis Deninger told DailyMail.com in March. 'The NFL owners have made a lot more money with him at the head than anybody ever dreamed was possible.'
Previously Goodell's pay was included in league filings because the NFL had tax-exempt status until 2015 (the teams have always paid federal taxes). A year ago, Goodell offered to cut his $40 million salary to $0 amid the league's pandemic cuts.
Amazon has partnered with the league to stream Thursday night games since 2017, but it will take over the entire package from Fox, which has had it since 2018 after CBS and NBC shared the package for two seasons
Goodell appears to have most of the owners' support despite a few isolated disputes.
In 2017, he and Cowboys boss Jerry Jones feuded over a six-game suspension given to Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott for a domestic violence claim. Prosecutors in Ohio had previously opted against charging Elliott over the accusation.
A whopping 96 million viewers worldwide watched Tom Brady and the Buccaneers win the Super Bowl on February 7 in Tampa
Goodell has also had a pair of highly publicized run-ins with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
In 2007, the NFL fined the club $250,000 and Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000 after the team was caught taping the New York Jets' defensive coaches' signals in the incident known as Spygate. New England also was docked its first-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.
The scandal fueled widespread distrust of the Patriots that resurfaced a decade later when the team was accused of illegally deflating the footballs used in the 2015 AFC championship game. Quarterback Tom Brady was suspended for four games, and the team was fined $1 million and docked another first-round draft pick.
However, academics have insisted that the NFL failed to prove its case against Brady, who may have actually been exonerated by the data.
'I am convinced that there was no illegal deflation of the Patriots' footballs at the 2015 AFC Championship Game,' MIT mechanical engineering professor and Philadelphia Eagles fan Dr. John Leonard wrote in for Sports Illustrated in 2016.
Goodell appears to have most of the owners' support despite a few isolated disputes - namely with Cowboys boss Jerry Jones (left) and the Patriots' Robert Kraft (right)
Fans have been less forgiving to Goodell, who has been criticized for his response to domestic violence claims against players and his reaction to players protesting racism by kneeling during the national anthem.
More recently, Goodell has come under fire for his refusal to share the findings of the league's investigation into sexual harassment and hostile workplace claims against the Washington Football Team. Former club employees, the NFL Players' Association, Raiders owner Mark Davis, and even congressional Democrats have all called on Goodell to release findings of the report.
The son of late US Senator Charles Goodell (Republican-New York), the 62-year-old Roger Goodell grew up in Westchester County, New York, attended Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, and is now married to former Fox News anchor Jane Skinner.
Sunday Night Football Commentators Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth and Bob Costas report prior to the NFL game between the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium on September 11, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona
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