Bettman & Selig's Salaries a Disgrace

Given: We are in a borderline-catastrophic economic downturn right now.

It seems kind of disgusting to split hairs over who has it worst in the world of multi-million dollar ballplayers. However, we still continue to pay their salaries by watching their ballgames on television, going to the games in person, and buying their merchandise. So I don't think anyone really has any room to complain as long as they keep supporting their team. After all, where do they want the teams to pour all that money those players are bringing in? Professional sports teams are oftentimes involved in community service projects, where they actually use some of the money they make to help the communities around them. It's only fair that the players you pay to watch get paid with the money you spend to watch them.

That being said, I've discovered a pretty big problem in the salaries of commissioners Gary Bettman and Bud Selig, who made $7.1 million and $18 million respectively. Let me put this in perspective for you. Here are the salaries of the four major sports commissioners in America:

1.) Bud Selig (MLB): $18.35 million
2.) Roger Goodell (NFL): $8.25 million
3.) David Stern(NBA): $8 million
4.) Gary Bettman(NHL): $7.1 million

Here's how much revenue each league brought in last year:

1.) MLB: $6.2 Billion
2.) NFL: $6.0 Billion
3.) NBA: $3.2 Billion
4.) NHL: $2.5 Billion

Therefore, the following reflects how much each commish is paid in relation to the revenue of his respective league (this is not necessarily the amount of revenue spent on each commissioner, simply how their salary number stacks up in comparison to the amount of money their league takes in, I'll call it their Commissioner's Cost Efficiency Rating: CCER):

CCER: (Note: This is a stat you want to have low numbers in, like golf score or ERA, so these are listed in reverse order of efficiency)

1.) Gary Bettman(NHL): 35.2%
2.) Bud Selig(MLB): 33.7%
3.) Roger Goodell(NFL): 7.5%
4.) David Stern(NBA): 4%

I'm not trying to diminish the role of the commissioner in a major sport, there is a lot of responsibility that goes with the territory. Every grievance filed with the league, every single issue their respective league has, is in one way or another dealt with by them, so they deserve to get paid. They keep things organized, they do a good job of maintaining order in leagues that would be crushed in the face of anarchy. However, they should not be among their league's highest paid PLAYERS. Keep in mind: people aren't paying to see a commissioner file paperwork. That's why I find Bettman and Selig's salaries particularly disconcerting, and commend Goodell and Stern on being cost effective commissioners. For, they aren't getting paid money that's going to make their league's highest paid players insulted, and, plausibly, in turn demand more money. How would you feel if you were among your league's elite players, and you were getting paid less than the Commissioner? I'd imagine you wouldn't be thrilled.

Gary Bettman and Bud Selig's salaries would put them among the salaries of the elite players in the league. Bettman would be the 12th highest-paid player in the NHL, and Selig would be the 10th highest-paid player in Major League Baseball. I don't know about you, but that just doesn't seem right to me. Neither Goodell nor Stern would even rank in their league's top 25 highest-paid players, and that's the way that it should be.

Just to give you an idea, here's a brief list of players getting paid less than Selig and Bettman:

Bud Selig(MLB): $18.35 million

Quality Players Paid Less than Bud Selig:

Alfonso Soriano, Torii Hunter, Aramis Ramirez, Todd Helton, AJ Burnett (in his Blue Jays contract), Tim Hudson, CC Sabathia (in his Indians Contract), Vlad Guerrero, Ryan Howard, Derek Lowe, Mariano Rivera, Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, and a list that goes on down the list of players constituting Major League Baseball

Gary Bettman: $7.1 million

Quality Players Paid Less than Gary Bettman

Chris Drury, Jarome Iginla, Jason Spezza, Mats Sundin, Vincent Lecavalier, Henrik Lundqvist, Nikolai Khabibulin, Roberto Luongo, Scott Niedermeyer, Pavel Datsyuk, Dan Boyle, Daniel Briere, Ed Jovanovsky, and a list that goes on down the list of players constituting the National Hockey League.

You could argue that commissioners deserve to be paid among the league's best, because after all, these commissioners are the best at what they do. They spent years at law or business school studying the trade, becoming the best in their field, and these leagues saw that, which led to their being elected or placed into their positions. However, if these commissioners are woefully unsuccessful in their endeavors, then I'm a little less inclined to condone their compensation. Guess what: the two leagues facing the biggest controversies of the four right now? NHL and MLB.

The NHL is three seasons removed from a catastrophic lockout, in which players' compensation was the big hangup in developing a collective bargaining agreement. (Well, I wonder why they were so upset!) Major League Baseball is having all of its home run records scrutinized because a commissioner (Bud Selig) and his administration turned a blind eye to ballooning statistics (and biceps for that matter,) and instead, I suppose found comfort in their rather desirable income. I wouldn't be surprised if, when their contracts come due, these two step down, willingly accept the money (the money you pay to go see their players play) they've been paid, and ride off into the sunset, knowing they've gotten away with robbery. And trust me, they'd know, they went to law school.