In news that should make opponents of the NFL even more furious, it has been revealed that Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, is pulling in money by the millions.

People continue to criticize the league for the amount of money that it generates, and how it has become a spectacle for the viewers, while Goodell is now a prime example of that.

Roger Goodell makes more than people might think, and in 2012, he was paid a total of $44.2 million. The high total makes him among the best-paid executives in the country and perhaps the highest-paid leader of a nonprofit organization.

The idea that the NFL is a nonprofit is also a fact that many people argue about, and find it hard to accept that a league that generates such a large amount of money while still being considered a nonprofit.

Nonprofit status is typically given to the groups that deliver services that are unable to be provided by the private-sector companies, which is clearly stretched by the NFL.

The news of Roger Goodell’s high pay angered Ken Berger especially. Berger is the president and chief executive of Charity Navigator, the nation’s largest charity evaluator. Speaking on Goodell and the NFL, he said “The idea that a person becomes a multimillionaire running a nonprofit that is supposed to provide a service that can’t be provided by the market is absurd. The notion that every taxpayer is subsidizing an organization whose leader is making $30 million or more is a waste.”

Who is the highest paid person in NFL?? Aaron Rogers at $22m. Child Pleez!..Roger Goodell at $44m. Yep you read it right!

— Dr. Johnny Benjamin (@DrJCBenjamin) February 16, 2014

The high pay for an NFL executive starts to seem even more absurd when thinking about the types of things that the NFL continues to make money on, such as the large amount of fines that have been issued to players in recent years.

People are being fined for normal things such as hard hits on defenseless players, but a number of unnecessary things such as wearing the wrong type of cleats, and taunting, are also receiving fines.

The cheerleaders are also hardly being paid for the work that they do, and the cheerleaders for the Oakland Raiders made this known when bringing about a lawsuit toward their team for their unfair wages. While they are not paid out of his salary, it does not reflect well on the league that he runs when lawsuits like this one take place.

Roger Goodell has sucked what little fun there was in a league that has very little integrity left.

— Panda Pete (@PandaPete21) February 16, 2014

Most of Roger Goodell’s compensation comes from the annual dues that each team pays to cover the league’s operating expenses, including salaries. However, some of it also comes from NFL Ventures, a for-profit subsidiary that handles the league’s marketing, media, and other businesses.

Image via Wikimedia Commons