 Commissioner Bud Selig earned over $18 million for the fiscal year ending Oct. 31, 2007, making him by far the highest paid commissioner in all of sports, according to a report by the SportsBusiness Journal. His earnings were up 22 percent from the year prior, according to recently filed tax documents. As reported by the SportsBusiness Journal: The compensation to Selig outlined in the tax filing includes $17.47 million in base compensation, $461,540 in contributions to employee benefit plans, and $422,590 in expense accounts and other allowances. Selig’s total marks the largest chunk of a $98.9 million outlay in total employee compensation and benefits to the 242-person MLB office. That entire employee expense is up 16 percent from the $85.1 million listed for a 236-employee office in the prior year’s tax return.
In total, Selig pulled in $18.35 milliion, making his salary higher than nearly every player in MLB at the time, with Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Roger Clemens and Jason Giambi. According to Fisher of the SBJ, “Entering 2009, only seven MLB players will earn more this year than Selig’s $18.35 million of two years ago.” Selig makes far and away more than his counterparts in other leagues. The second highest is the NFL’s Roger Goodell at $11.2 million prorated salary, based on $6.5 million earned for the first seven months on the job (Sept. 1, 2006, through March 31, 2007). Goodell is followed by David Stern of the NBA (an estimated $10 million), Gary Bettman of the NHL ($5.59 million), and Tim Finchem of the PGA Tour ($4.8 million).
 Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.
Don't forget to register and log in on The Biz of Baseball site to get updates via your in-box, and see information only logged in members can see. Subscribe to The Biz of Baseball
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
