The NFL pays its players billions of dollars a year and fans pack its stadiums every week. But even the deep-pocketed league is shedding jobs.
League commissioner Roger Goodell said on Tuesday that the league will cut more than 10 percent of its staff in response to the downturn in the American economy that could put a dent in ticket sales for next season.
Goodell announced the cuts in a memo to league employees. The NFL will eliminate about 150 of its staff of 1,100 in New York, NFL Films in New Jersey, and television and Internet production facilities in Los Angeles.
“These are difficult and painful steps,” he wrote in the memo. “But they are necessary in the current economic environment. I would like to be able to report that we are immune to the troubles around us, but we are not.”
The NFL long has been regarded as one of the most wealthiest professional sports leagues on the planet. In September, Forbes called the NFL “the richest game” and the “the strongest sport in the world.”
The league has revenues of approximately US$6.5 billion, of which an estimated US$4.5 billion goes to players.
But now it joins the NBA, NASCAR teams and the company that runs Major League Baseball’s Internet division in announcing layoffs. The NHL hasn’t laid off workers, though it was in a hiring freeze, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
So far, NFL fans haven’t noticed the cutbacks, which also include reduction in travel by some league staff, and such secondary costs as printing and minor events. The NFL announced last month that it was reducing the cost of playoff tickets by about 10 percent from last season.
“We’re looking at everything with an eye to how we can be more efficient and reduce costs,” league spokesman Greg Aiello said.
The cuts will take place over the next 60 days, running past the Super Bowl, which will be played on Feb. 1 in Tampa. Employees who volunteer to leave will be offered what was termed “a voluntary separation program.”
The layoffs are separate from the cuts in front-office and other personnel being made by the 32 individual teams.
Aiello said the NFL still plans to throw parties at the Super Bowl, elaborate events for which the game has long been known.
However, local organizers say the companies that regularly host their own parties are watching expenses, scaling back plans and inviting fewer guests.
Goodell said last month in an interview that the league and its teams could feel the economic slump in sponsorship and marketing.
Ticket sales for this season have been strong and stadiums have been largely sold out. But NFL officials, including Goodell, believe that was because season tickets for this year’s games were sold in the spring and summer. The commissioner feared the league and its teams would take a bigger hit when season tickets go on sale next spring for next year’s season.
Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp Ltd, a Chicago-based sports consulting firm that works extensively with the NFL, says pro football was unlikely to feel the downturn as badly as MLB because it has fewer tickets to sell and still has a guaranteed revenue stream in its national television contracts, which dwarf those of other sports.
But he noted that the league also has fixed costs — almost 60 percent of its total revenue will be paid to players this year, with an increase next season. Labor costs are one reason the NFL opted out of the labor contract, which will now expire after the 2010 season.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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