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.