Dave Pear's Blog

Like the old saying goes, “Charity Begins at Home.” Americans are among the most generous people in the world. Recently, a list was published that actually listed some of the top nonprofits in America and the compensation that their respective CEO’s collected for leading those organizations. It was an eye-opener to see that the CEO’s of certain so-called nonprofits were paid in the millions annually, while others only collected token salaries more in line with their charitable missions. For example, the former head of the Boy Scouts of America was paid over $1 million while the COO of the American Cancer Society almost made $1 million last year. In contrast, the head of the Salvation Army took home a relatively paltry $130,000.
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Here’s a snapshot from Charity Watch showing some of their Top 25 Nonprofit CEO Salaries:
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The top salary on this list from 2012 was $2 million+ to Peter Cordeiro who heads the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. You can view the rest of the chart by clicking HERE.
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And how much closer to home than Roger Goodell and the NFL? It’s only becoming more widely known that the NFL operates as a 501 (c) 6 nonprofit, with all the special benefits that a nonprofit enjoys. And keep in mind that many years ago, they also received an antitrust exemption from Congress.
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Lots of news this week on concussions, disability and everything in between. Let’s start off with more about the debate on the future of football. (We wonder if many of these current players trash talking the long-term effects of concussions today may be the first guys in line looking for help when it’s their turn.) Here’s a video clip from ESPN:
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The late Junior Seau’s family has filed suit against not only the NFL and Riddell but have also included NFL Films for their glorifying and perpetuating the greatest hits in games over the years. (Read that story by clicking HERE.)
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Oral arguments on the consolidated concussion lawsuits are scheduled to begin in front of Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia on April 9th. (Click HERE for the short announcement on ESPN.)
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And the NFLPA wasn’t about to be outdone by the NFL in the PR run up to the Super Bowl. Last year, the NFL made a $30 million grant to the NIH (National Institutes of Health) to study brain concussions in NFL players – specifically starting with Junior Seau. Earlier this month, they ended up with confirmation that – yes indeed – Junior had CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) instantly resulting in a lawsuit filed on behalf of his family against the League. Then earlier this week, the NFLPA disclosed in their tax returns that they LOST $36 million last year as a result of that lockout before the new CBA was finally signed (as covered by Daniel Kaplan‘s coverage in Sporting News - click HERE). Never mind that $36 million loss though. For their Pre-Super Bowl PR, the NFLPA just announced they’re funding a $100 million study with Harvard University:
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NFL players, Harvard team for $100 million health study

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It’s another Monday, one week after Super Bowl Sunday. Some current news items of note as well as a couple of reminders on some events and dates that are coming up.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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