A few doors down from Barber, theres a particularly impressive home, with a 600-bottle wine cellar, a wraparound shower with massage jets and a soaking tub, and a sizeable pool with a waterfall and jacuzzi overlooking the lake. It belongs to Jim McVay, a sports executive who has built his wealth over the past 30 years by running the Outback Bowl, a second-tier college football postseason game featuring third-place teams.
The hefty paychecks enjoyed by bowl bosses long have been viewed by economists as a sign of exploitation in a sport played by amateurs. But even among this coterie of well-paid executives, McVays compensation $1,045,000 in 2017, according to the bowls most recent tax filing ranks as extreme, according to a review of bowl financial records and interviews with industry experts.
McVay, a former Buccaneers marketing executive and uncle to Los Angeles Rams Coach Sean McVay, is the highest-paid bowl executive in the country, even though his organizations revenue $11.9 million in 2017 ranked 10th among bowl organizations. While several bowl bosses manage other games or major events, McVays core duties remain as focused as they were when he took the job in 1988: negotiate contracts and sell sponsorships and tickets for one football game each year.
The chief executive of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association which generated $96.7 million in revenue, and manages the Rose Bowl and the Tournament of Roses Parade made $412,000, or less than half of McVays income. The chief executive of Peach Bowl Inc. which generated $32.5 million in revenue, and also manages the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game made $710,500. And the chief executive of Florida Citrus Sports Events Inc. which generated $17.4 million in revenue and manages two bowl games (Citrus and Camping World) made $586,000.
The decision by the Outback Bowls board a volunteer group of local businesspeople and dignitaries to pay McVay, year after year, more than many of his peers further stands out because their bowl, historically, is among the stingiest when it comes to giving to charity.
Among the 10 wealthiest bowl games in terms of revenue, the Outback Bowl ranks eighth in charitable giving since 2000, according to financial records and interviews, with $500,000 donated, all in the last two years. ... The hefty paychecks enjoyed by bowl bosses long have been viewed by economists as a sign of exploitation in a sport played by amateurs. But even among this coterie of well-paid executives, McVays compensation $1,045,000 in 2017, according to the bowls most recent tax filing ranks as extreme, according to a review of bowl financial records and interviews with industry experts.
McVay, a former Buccaneers marketing executive and uncle to Los Angeles Rams Coach Sean McVay, is the highest-paid bowl executive in the country, even though his organizations revenue $11.9 million in 2017 ranked 10th among bowl organizations. While several bowl bosses manage other games or major events, McVays core duties remain as focused as they were when he took the job in 1988: negotiate contracts and sell sponsorships and tickets for one football game each year. ... When informed of McVays pay and the Outback Bowls revenue, one expert on the economy of college sports laughed.
You really cant justify this salary, said Richard Southall, professor and director of the College Sport Research Institute at the University of South Carolina. Southall said McVay benefits from working in a niche industry with unique market factors beneficial to executives, such as cheap entertainment (the players in bowl games each get $550 of souvenir gifts, the maximum permitted under NCAA rules), and lax oversight.