We keep thinking about that old saying, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Or how about “Different day, same old $@&!”?
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We’re always astounded with the creative accounting that comes out of the NFLPA. Now that the 2008 LM-2 (see the earlier post and full LM-2 HERE) has been finally released, there’s going to be a lot of articles and commentary on what different people find when reading this 810-page tree killer. Daniel Kaplan and Liz Mullen from Sports Business Journal pointed out a couple of their favorite tidbits this morning (read the entire piece HERE). Among the gems in the Journal article was the fact that Gene Upshaw’s widow received her husband’s deferred compensation probably in excess of $10 million.
Over the past 25+ years, Dave and his fellow retired players have consistently emphasized the fiduciary responsibilities of their Union, the NFLPA, and its management to those retired members who have contributed to make the game what it is today. So it was a great leap forward from the Gene “I don’t work for them” Upshaw era just to hear new Executive Director DeMaurice Smith quoted yesterday at a press conference in New York from his first players’ meetings. The new Executive Director was quoted as saying that the NFLPA has a fiduciary duty to its retired players. continue reading »
This just in: It’s now getting out that Congressman Jim Moran (D – Va) was the person responsible for outing Troy Vincent as the source that kicked off that recent Congressional inquiry into the Executive Director search process.
“According to Liz Mullen and Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal, Vincent spoke with at least two of the four Congressmen who sent a letter to former U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal reports in a new article that the NFL is carrying over $9 billion (yes, that’s a ‘B’!) in debt. Apparently, it was revealed as an exhibit in court filings from recent union discussions. But before you fall over in amazement, the league’s lawyers also said that the debt is not really a problem since their projected cash flow is more than adequate to service the debt (almost $7 billion in 2006 alone).
What’s interesting, however, is that over 25% of that debt is from financing for new stadiums in New York and Dallas. So here’s the math: They have $9 billion in debt but they can easily finance nearly $2.5 billion in loans to the Giants, Jets and Cowboys because they have nearly $7 billion a year in cash flow.
If any of you had even thought remotely that the NFL and the NFLPA is actually run like a real-world business, a new piece by Daniel Kaplan in Sports Business Journal should dispel any of those notions once and for all. After Gene Upshaw’s compensation last year was revealed to be over $6 million (including “bonuses”), newly disclosed tax returns from the league revealed that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell received $6.5 million for his 7 months of work last year. That translates into a whopping $11.2 million annual salary for the new commissioner. I’m not sure what you have to do to earn almost $1 million a month in salary but a lot of us can list a lot of things he’s not doing. Read Daniel Kaplan’s article HERE.
By DANIEL KAPLAN
Staff writer – Sports Business Journal
Published February 18, 2008 : Page 01
Compensation at the NFL Players Association rose 58 percent in the 2007 fiscal year to more than $17 million, the group’s most recent tax return shows.
Some of that increase includes the previously disclosed doubling of Executive Director Gene Upshaw’s take, but pay to the union’s 93 other mployees during that year rose 41 percent as well, according to the return.