NFL commissioner forgoes salary, as league announces furloughs and reduced salaries

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday said that he would be forgoing his salary, as the league announced furloughs and budget cuts amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Goodell’s current contract — agreed upon in 2017 — indicates a base salary of under $4 million, but with incentives his yearly compensation can max out at up to $40 million.

“It is clear that the economic effects will be deeper and longer lasting than anyone anticipated and that their duration remains uncertain,” Goodell wrote to league employees in the a memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal. “The downturn has affected all of us, as well as our fans, our business partners, and our clubs.”

The pay cuts are tiered, with managers seeing cuts starting at 5 percent, while executive vice presidents will receive a 15 percent reduction, according to the paper. Employees making less than $100,000 a year were not affected by the pay cut.

NFL employees who “are unable to substantially perform their duties from home and/or whose current workload has been significantly reduced” have been furloughed. 

“The NFL is not immune to the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and it is our obligation to take responsible steps to protect the business and manage through this crisis as effectively as possible,” the memo said. “These decisions were difficult and we know these measures will cause hardship for those impacted.”

The pandemic caused the league’s draft last week to happen virtually, with Goodell reading off draft selections from his home in Bronxville, N.Y.

It’s unclear whether the NFL regular season will start on time come fall, but many health experts have expressed heavy skepticism as to professional sports leagues returning to business as usual after the summer.