Jill Ellis received $90,000 in bonus and incentive compensation for coaching the U.S. women's national soccer team to the 2015 World Cup title, less than a fifth of what Jurgen Klinsmann collected for guiding the men to the tournament's second round a year earlier.
Ellis' bonus was among the figures revealed in the U.S. Soccer Federation's tax return for 2015-16, which was posted to the nonprofit organization's website earlier this week and reported by Steven Goff of The Washington Post.
Coaches agree to terms of potential bonuses when they sign contracts, such as Ellis did when she was hired in May 2014. After winning the 2015 championship, she signed a new deal with the federation, running through the 2019 World Cup in France. Salary and bonus details were not disclosed.
Ellis' previous salary, according to the tax returns, was $216,407. So the $90,000 bonus was 42 percent of her base earnings and, with other income, raised her total package between April 2015 and March 2016 to $327,332.
Klinsmann's base salary in 2015-16 grew to $3,050,000, a 12.7 percent increase from the previous fiscal year. Over his 5 1/2 year tenure, the former German superstar had the highest coaching salary in U.S. soccer history. He also serves as the technical director for men's soccer.
Klinsmann received $500,000 in bonuses for the period covering the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which constitutes 18 percent of his base earnings. The Americans finished second in the so-called "Group of Death," which featured Germany and Portugal, before losing to Belgium in the round of 16.
Even with the bonus, Ellis earned less than Klinsmann's top assistant, Andi Herzog, who made $393,000 in base salary and $426,000 overall. Herzog left the program when Klinsmann was dismissed.
The results are in
A minor league baseball team in Florida has planned an unusual Father's Day promotion. The team will give out pregnancy tests.
The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Class AA affiliate of the Miami Marlins who feature former Arkansas Razorback Brian Anderson at third base, added a second promotion Thursday to the usual "Thirsty Thursday" celebration. They called it the "You Might Be the Father" promotion, which comes with a free pregnancy test.
"The test will let men know if they should return to the Father's Day game on Sunday," the team's website explained.
General Manager Harold Craw told The Florida Times-Union the idea was pitched as a "tongue-in-cheek" promotion for the Thursday crowd, which tends to be young professionals and college students. He said the tests will only be handed to someone who wants one.
There was no word at press time whether talk show host Maury Povich would make an appearance.
Sports quiz
How many goals did Jurgen Klinsmann score for the German national team in 1990-1998?
Answer
Klinsmann scored 40 goals in 82 games.
Sports on 06/16/2017