The entire article is really fascinating to me, no one except Deus Irae has really commented on that. That said, it acknowledges contributions from Chris Mortensen so it's more probable than not that 11 out of 12 paragraphs contain incorrect information.
But here are the key things I picked up on:
- Most owners think Goodell is screwing up big time, and the decreased TV viewership is a huge deal.
- Despite the fact that Goodell got booted from the 2011 union negotiations at the end, the owners are crediting him with their major win there because he was able to unite ownership in their demands and process, and he is still doing a good job on that front
- Goodell's extension is solely to ensure he's there for the 2021 union negotiations; they will be happy to toss him overboard after that. Owners also feel that if Goodell is tossed before union negotiations, the leverage goes straight to the players union - that they would expect concessions as a sign of good faith from ownership towards working with the new guy.
- Most owners think the league office has gotten too bloated and has too much power, and they believe it's very dysfunctional.
- Part of the problem is, either intentionally or unintentionally, Goodell hasn't found someone to groom as a successor the way Tagliabue did with him
- Ownership feels if they boot Goodell now, due to the above, it will create major disturbances and therefore they don't think it's worth it to change now. Never underestimate the power of inertia (I've also learned this in my consulting day job).
Nevertheless, one owner actually reached out to Adam Silver (NBA Commish) to hypothetically see if he was interested (response was apparently hypothetical laughter), and they've also put feelers out to International Olympic Committee members. But due to all the factors above, really unlikely anything will happen.
- Goodell himself knows all this, including the successor issue. He's pissed that he's being asked to take a pay cut despite having grown revenues in the past (good thing he's not a publically traded company CEO where compensation is all "what have you done for me lately?") and taking bullets for the owners. And because of the successor issue, he believes he has all the leverage in negotiations - and most owners seem to agree.
- That said, Goodell isn't enjoying the job anymore and doesn't really want to stick around long term. Being the stubborn guy he is though, he won't leave the job under these circumstances. He wants to draw as much money out as he can and stick around through the 2021 union negotiations, and is willing to work on a successor plan afterwards.
- Goodell is becoming more independent of ownership - part of the bloated league office, his dissatisfaction with his job, and the leverage he has. The union has noticed and is actually happier dealing with him now than in the past.
