Pitino's Pay Check Not Locked Out

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

An old article, but informative.
[

        7.2.98 00:03:28
        CELTICS
        At $18,500 a day, there's no lockout at the
        bank for Pitino

By NEIL DOWNING
Journal-Bulletin Business Writer

Boston Celtics players are locked out of work because
of a contract dispute. But Celtics executives continue
to work according to the terms of their contracts. And
in some cases, those contracts mean a lot of green.

Rick Pitino, president and director of basketball
operations for the Celtics, now in his second year with
the Celtics, is paid $6.75 million annually, according
to a document the Celtics filed recently with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

For fans who keep score at home, Pitino's annual salary
works out to about $18,500 a day, every day, or about
$781 an hour, 24 hours a day.

Pitino, the highest paid Celtics executive, will
continue to earn that much each year through May 6,
2003. After that, his salary is scheduled to fall to $2
million a year, through May 6, 2007.

Paul E. Gaston, Celtics chairman and chief executive
officer, doesn't earn quite as Pitino, but his annual
salary is still in the seven figures.

Gaston formerly was paid $400,000 a year. But in June
1997, the Celtics board of directors approved an
increase in his compensation, to $1 million a year,
according to the SEC document.

Several other Celtics executives are also under
contract. For example:

[Image] Thomas M. Bartlett Jr. serves as a Celtics
consultant through June 30, 2001. He gets an annual
retainer of $200,000, payable in equal quarterly
installments.

[Image] Under a lifetime consulting contract with the
Celtics, Arnold ``Red'' Auerbach receives $250,000 a
year. (He has also received annual bonuses in recent
years.) When Auerbach dies, his wife will receive, for
the rest of her life, monthly payments equal to those
that otherwise would have been paid to her husband.

[Image] David R. Gavitt also continues as a Celtics
consultant through June 2001, but he must now tighten
his belt a notch. Gavitt formerly was paid $200,000.
But for the year that began yesterday and ends June 30,
1999, Gavitt will be paid $100,000, according to the
SEC document. Gavitt will also get $100,000 for the
year ending June 30, 2000. But his annual pay will drop
to $50,000 for the year ending June 30, 2001.

[Image] Consultant Alan Cohen is being paid an annual
retainer fee of $260,000, but his contract is set to
expire at the end of next month.

The SEC document also shows that the Celtics have been
enjoying higher revenues and higher profits despite a
generally poor showing on the court in recent seasons.

For the nine months ended March 31 (the latest for
which figures are available), the Celtics rang up a net
profit of about $14.42 million, compared with about
$11.34 million in the same period a year earlier.

Revenues for the nine months through March 31 jumped
about 20 percent, to about $65 million.

The Celtics front office attributed the improved
performance partly to a 20 percent increase in revenue
from ticket sales, and a 24 percent increase in
television and radio revenues.

Team expenses and game expenses also increased over the
nine-month period, but costs for administration,
promotions and marketing declined, according to the SEC
document.

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