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NFL reportedly close to extending commissioner Roger Goodell's contract

Goodell’s contract is scheduled to expire in 2019.

From Spygate to Bountygate to Deflategate, from Ray Rice to Josh Brown to Ezekiel Elliott, from CTE to domestic violence to arbitrary punishment – Roger Goodell has been in the headlines quite a few times since his tenure as NFL commissioner began in 2006. Of course, not all of the media coverage has been positive; quite the opposite actually.

However, dispite being regularly criticized for his disciplinary stances and perceived favoritism for some owners, Goodell has overseen the growth of the league into a hugely successful product both domestically and abroad. One byproduct of this growth is the financial success the league – and thus its ownership – enjoys. It likely is one of the main reasons why Goodell is not expected to go anywhere (per SportsBusiness' Daniel Kaplan):

Reporting today in @sbjsbd NFL close to extending @nflcommish contract for another 5 years thru '24. Goodell's current contract ends in '19

It would be a surprise if Goddell's new contract did not at least match his current one, which pays him an annual salary of more than $30.0 million per year (in 2015, the last year the NFL had to disclose his financial compensation, it was $34.0 million to be exact). Is it too big of a deal considering how fanbases across the NFL view Goodell and his work? To quote NFL-hired investigator Ted Well: More probable than not.