NY Times: "Toxic Culture" in US Soccer

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by Unimane, Jun 25, 2019.

  1. Jazzy Altidore

    Jazzy Altidore Member+

    Sep 2, 2009
    San Francisco
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You either keep misunderstanding, or your writing is confused.

    You were the one who said that shareholders are typically "friends of management," not me.

    But do boards react when the share price drops precipitously? Certainly they do. And there are all sorts of ways that activist and institutional shareholders act against management.

    It also appears you are making the wrong distinction. I never distinguished between public and private companies; I distinguished between incentives that drive for profit and non-profit entities. Having worked at and with both types of companies, the difference in efficiency and productivity between the two is quite stark. And a major reason for that (in general) is because non-profit companies don't feel the investor pressure to perform.
     
  2. gunnerfan7

    gunnerfan7 Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Jul 22, 2012
    Santa Cruz, California
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    "Shareholders" often come in the form of a bunch of Joe the Plumbers who own a few shares each, and the 10 people/investors/companies that own 70 percent of the shares. Which means, if you appease those 10 people, you'll probably be fine.

    There is the public-facing stock price, which may or may not accurately reflect the health of the company. Fluctuations in the stock price may or may not encourage better decision-making.
     
  3. Editor In Chimp

    Editor In Chimp Member+

    Sep 7, 2008
    My argument is that for-profit companies aren’t inherently better run because they have a profit mechanism. Shareholders oversight is to maximize profits, not ensure sound business decision making. If those two things happen to intersect, it’s coincidental to their main motive, which is...profits.
     
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  4. iad_22201

    iad_22201 Member+

    Jan 2, 2009
    Washington, DC
    Club:
    Fulham FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This is incredibly dishonest (though I shouldn't be surprised given the source). I haven't defended anyone against anything in this thread. In point of fact, I stated that the author of the piece at issue is a top notch reporter.
     
  5. DHC1

    DHC1 Member+

    Jun 3, 2002
    NYC
    I apologize if you didn’t intend to provide a contrasting article via the strauss/JK article. I thought it was clearly your intent.

    If that wasn’t the intent, what was the point of bringing up the Strauss article from five years ago?

    FWIW, I thought the equivalency point was reasonable.
     
  6. sXeWesley

    sXeWesley Member+

    Jun 18, 2007
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Who wants to take a break from discussing the merits of publicly traded organizations vs non profits to play random Jay Berhalter fun facts with me?
    • In 2017 Jay Berhalter made $779,922 from the federation, as the whatever that long dumb title is that he has.
    • In 2017 the USMNT and USSF had the single greatest fu@k up in their crowded and illustrious history of F'ing up.
    • In 2018 Jay Berhalter was on the committee to hire the guy that would eventually hire his brother, for no explicable reason considering he is on the operations side of the federation.
    • Jay Berhalter was the Chief Executive of the Copa America Centenario.
    • Some shady seeming shenanigans and the moving of lots of money went down at the Centenario:
    Copa America was successful, at least $190 million in revenue for CA2016. What is CA2016 you ask? More on that in a sec. $46 million was reported as USSF profit, USSF made a lot of money. Did they make as much money as they should have? Where did the rest of the money go? Who individually (corporations are not people), profited?

    https://leastthing.blogspot.com/2018/04/seven-questions-for-us-soccer-on-ca2016.html

    In 2014 the US Soccer Federation, a non-profit charity registered in New York, created a subsidiary non-profit related to the hosting of the Copa America Centenario soccer tournament. Specifically, on 29 October 2014 the USSF set up a single-member LLC, called The CA2016 Local Organizing Committee LLC.

    The CA2016 reported $190 million in revenue in 2016 (specifically $189,681,375). CA2016 reported providing a grant of $64,941,805 to the USSF (Schedule I, Part ID, d). USSF 2017 IRS 990 (
    PDF) reported receiving $50,000,000 from CA2016 (p. 68, Part V (1)).
    • Question #1: Why is there a $14,941,805 discrepancy between the two numbers?
    CA2016 employed 24 people in 2016 and reported $5,144,749 in compensation, salaries and wages (IRS 990, Part IX, lines 5 and 7) plus $548,815 in other employee benefits (IRS 990, Part IX, line 9). This results in an average pay of $237,232 per employee.
    • Question #2: What were each of the 24 employees actually paid?
    CA2016 reported “fees for services” paid to non-employees of $15,403,641 (IRS 990, Part IX, line 11a, “Management”) and $46,858,610 (IRS 990, Part IX, line 11g, “Other”). Of this latter amount Schedule O explains that $31,192,095 was for “service agreement total fees” and $15,506,572 was for “hosting agreement total fees.”
    • Question #3: To whom (organizations and individuals) were the $15.4m in management fees paid?
    • Question #4: To whom (organizations and individuals) were the $31.2m in service agreement fees paid?
    • Question #5: To whom (organizations and individuals) were the $15.5 million in hosting agreement fees paid?
    There is plenty more in the article, like $16,328,000 in travel expenses.

    Maybe Wahl wants to make up for getting scooped so hard and ask some questions? LOL.
     
  7. Editor In Chimp

    Editor In Chimp Member+

    Sep 7, 2008
    That is some impressive grifting.
     
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  8. russ

    russ Member+

    Feb 26, 1999
    Canton,NY
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Noobs compared to Chuck Blazer,I tell ya.
     
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  9. #1 Feilhaber and Adu

    Aug 1, 2007
    F*ckin D-bags.

    Been saying it all since 2007.


    Finally, we are getting somewhere. (beyond bigsoccer, that is...)
     
  10. smokarz

    smokarz Member+

    Aug 9, 2006
    Hartford, CT

    Who needs journalism when you get Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram?

    CEOs are forced out the doors because of Twitter. Entertainment goliaths go broke because of Twitter. Multinational corporations are forced to change policies because of Twitter.

    If fans care enough about US soccer, they can make a difference. Get on social and makes lots of noises. People will see, they will hear, they will spread the words, and things will change. US soccer fans simply haven't make enough noises or care enough to do so.

    Social media is the modern platform to drive changes, so get your asses on it and start working.
     
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  11. Eighteen Alpha

    Eighteen Alpha Member+

    Aug 17, 2016
    Club:
    Stoke City FC
    I wasn’t aware. Kind of feel like an A hole now.
     
  12. #1 Feilhaber and Adu

    Aug 1, 2007
    Your response is garbage. Their are good people in USSF who have been marginalized and bullied for suggesting that maybe we should lower ticket prices for the upper levels in an empty stadium vs nothing opponents.

    Jay Berhalter is a cancer.
     
  13. Guinho

    Guinho Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes, bless their hearts
    Estonia
    May 27, 2001
    San Francisco, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    That’s not remotely true. Board meetings still happen and are frequently more public than private companies. There are a ton of constituencies watching carefully. Generally, nonprofits are more accountably managed than companies, which often turn into closed buddy networks. I take it you’ve never been involved in working with a nonprofit. And no, the money doesn’t just come automatically
     
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  14. Guinho

    Guinho Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes, bless their hearts
    Estonia
    May 27, 2001
    San Francisco, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Who have to stand for election in this case
     
  15. DHC1

    DHC1 Member+

    Jun 3, 2002
    NYC
    Any thoughts on the NYT article? Is the Grey Lady wasting tin foil?
     
  16. ebbro

    ebbro Member+

    Jun 10, 2005
    My industry and my company have had hard times these last 4 years. Both with tons of layoffs. Morale was low, people were complaining, etc... My company did a few "anonymous" surveys to get the pulse of the employees. I wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

    "Layoff time again - who should we layoff?"
    "What about that guy that totally ragged on management in the last survey?"
    "Done."
     
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  17. grandinquisitor28

    Feb 11, 2002
    Nevada
    And what the hell have either of them ever done to earn these positions? It’s farcical. I’ll give GGG the third arm mutation in the summer of ‘00 semifinal qualifier. That was astonishing as was the greatest ever goal in YS history illegally denied by Frings arm two years later but as a coach? Bruce <expletive> Arena has literally what a dozen more titles as a coach but somehow the greatness of GGG’s sub .500 track record as a HC was worth making a complete joke of the most important coaching hire search in USMNT history? Effin really? It’s beyond insulting being treated like this. It’s like when my horrific redskins announced Jim Zorn as HC a short while after announcing him as OC because nobody else in the league was stupid enough to take the HC job from the devil’s halfwit dips<bleep> little brother (Dan Snyder). Fans aren’t stupid. They know when their being fed a giant pile of b.s. and when their being fed filet mignon.
     
  18. grandinquisitor28

    Feb 11, 2002
    Nevada
    The Copa America bit reminds me of a line from Oscar Wilde about Frank Harris (considering Conmebol rejected our offer and invited freaking Qatar and Japan over this summer) after growing tired of listening to his self-aggrandizing stories at a dinner party, “Yes, yes Frank, you’ve been to every famous house in London......once.”
     
  19. Baysider

    Baysider Member+

    Jul 16, 2004
    Santa Monica
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Those of you who are on Glassdoor, is there a pattern with the reviews? I had the limited free access and so got to read the bad reviews. It seems like they were all within the last month or so. If you go back further (from what little I could read) the reviews were so-so, a common theme of bad pay, but not so much in terms of the organization.

    Broadly, what are the specific issues? A suggestion of an in-group and an out-group and those who were part of the in-group got the better pay. Also, Jay Berhalter's bad people skills. Other things?
     
  20. Patrick167

    Patrick167 Member+

    Dortmund
    United States
    May 4, 2017
    It is true that Twitter probably got this article written and it certainly got the Wahl "Carter dinner" article written.
     
  21. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Accounts payable?

    Just a guess.
     
  22. Mahtzo1

    Mahtzo1 Member+

    Jan 15, 2007
    So Cal
    Which article are you referring to?
     
  23. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The one in the original post?
     
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  24. Mahtzo1

    Mahtzo1 Member+

    Jan 15, 2007
    So Cal

    Duh! My bad! Reading is a good thing!
     
  25. Mahtzo1

    Mahtzo1 Member+

    Jan 15, 2007
    So Cal
    My initial thoughts? It doesn't surprise me. Do I think the reporting is legitimate? yes. I have more faith in our news media than Trump. Do the specific comments change my opinion about specific people (Berhalters). Yes. To what extent? Not sue exactly yet but it sure will make firing Berhalter easier if any of the serious issues are addressed....if not, we could have him for quite some time.. Considering my opinion of USSF wasn't great before I'm not too sure how this will affect my opinion going forward. I'll have to finish reading and digesting.
     
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