Report: Goodell Asks for Salary Reduction as NFL Implementing Pay Cuts, Furloughs Across League Staff

Roger Goodell would not be the first major sports commissioner to reduce his salary amid the pandemic.

The NFL is implementing salary cuts and furloughs for league staff, according to the Sports Business Journal's Ben Fischer. 

Per Fischer, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell additionally "asked last month" for his salary to be cut to $0. ESPN's Adam Schefter confirmed Fischer's reporting, noting that a league spokesperson said Goodell's $0 salary began earlier this month. As a point of reference, the NFL's commissioner signed a five-year, $200 million extension in 2017. 

The SBJ also reported that the salary cuts are tiered based on title and that no league employee earning less than $100 will be impacted. Furloughs, per the SBJ, are for staff who cannot do their jobs remotely.

"I wanted to make you aware that yesterday afternoon the Compensation Committee reviewed and approved these measures," Steelers owner Art Rooney II wrote in a memo to league owners Wednesday, per ESPN. "It is important to note that the Commissioner and his staff took the initiative to implement these measures as responsible steps in light of the economic uncertainty facing all businesses. Obviously, these are steps we all would prefer not to have to take, and the League office remains committed to planning for a full season in 2020.

"... In addition to the steps outlined in the memo, last month the Commissioner requested that he voluntarily reduce his salary to $0, which went into effect earlier this month."

Earlier this week, the SBJ also reported that the NFL has put together a contingency plan for a schedule that has a regular season starting in mid-October, a season with no bye weeks and a Feb. 28 Super Bowl. Goodell told Good Morning America that the league will be ready to "make alternatives" if needed.

The NFL schedule is expected to be released May 9. An April 15 report from the Washington Post's Mark Maske said that the schedule will account for the possibility of games being lost by a delayed start. 

“The schedule is being done in such a way that builds in that flexibility,” a person familiar with the NFL's planning told the Post.

Goodell would not be the first major sports commissioner to reduce his salary amid the pandemic. 

The NBA has reportedly reduced the base salaries for around 100 of its top-earning league office executives by 20%, including commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum. The NHL is temporarily cutting league office employees' salaries by 25%. 

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has also reportedly decided to forgo his salary indefinitely during the break caused by the coronavirus. Monahan's senior management team has additionally agreed to a 25% salary cut until further notice.

There are more than three million confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide, causing at least 210,000 deaths. There are more than one million confirmed cases in the United States.