Goodell On Track For Extension, $700M In Career Earnings

Already one of the highest-paid executives in sports, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is at last closing in on a three-year contract extension that will bring him to about $700 million in career earnings.

Months in development, the new deal is expected to be discussed at next week’s regularly scheduled league meetings in New York. But even if it isn’t finalized there, the extension is expected to keep Goodell in place until the spring of 2027, when he will be 68.

Goodell has held the post since 2006, and his most recent annual salary is believed to be nearly $64 million.

Using the NFL’s tax filings from 2006-15 and various reports since the league gave up its tax-exempt status, Goodell is already conservatively estimated to have earned about $500 million since becoming commissioner. A three-year extension could easily add another $200 million to that total haul, and prior reports pointed to the new term being “the most lucrative deal ever given to any commissioner in any sport.”

Under Goodell’s watch, the league has soared to unprecedented heights, and in 2021, the NFL signed a set of domestic media deals worth about $110 billion and stretching through 2033.

It’s unclear what the final sticking points have been in completing the extension. In April, the normally reserved Goodell offered a more blunt assessment on the situation. 

“The good news is I love the job, and I love what I’m doing,” Goodell said. “We have talked about an extension, and we’ll work towards that. If that’s possible, then great. If not, I’ve been really fortunate to be in this job.”