Max Siegel does it again - Siegel was paid $3.8 million in 2021 to run USATF

These grants are given by the USATF Foundation, which is a completely separate corporation with an independent board and no financial ties of any kind with USATF. That is, USATF gives not a dime to the Foundation. The grant money that USATF Foundation awards to athletes is all raised by donor board members, who serve as volunteers.

Maybe Bain or McKinsey can make a 200 slide presentation on how to fix USATF complete with an integrated roadmap to facilitate decision making based on prioritized levers.

Slide 1 could lay out why firing Max would be step one on the path to a target operating model.

Would probably cost about 1/3 of Max’s salary to do.

Like we don't already have enough corruption and cheating without gambling (and all the additional unwanted incentives it brings).

If Athletics has to stay niche in order to avoid attracting the kind of audience that only cares about a sport if they can bet money on it, I say, keep it niche.

There's no point growing a sport, if you grow it into something sh*te.

Don’t hate the player.

Thanks, I didn't know that. Maybe Max could donate a couple of million to the foundation.

Huh? Why is that silly?

Siegel is crazily bold and greedy, and the USATF board still supports and enables him.

So I blame both.

Max was hired to develop a US National Track and Field venue in Hollywood. I hope he delivers soon. We need the income.

As it stands, the discussion isn't going very far. Stop talking about what he does or doesn't do, or how much CEOs of marginally similar non-profits make. (I assume that this is a non-profit, though that matters less than one might think.)

First, what does his contract with USATF say? What are its terms? When was it written? Who authorized it or voted in favor of it. Who were the attorneys who negotiated it? What contingencies are accounted for? What is Siegel's full job description, and what is he precluded from doing while under contract (like contracting with third parties)? What is the contractual basis for each part of his compensation (for example, salary and percentages of third-party "sponsorships" and advertising revenue? Is any of this kept secret, and if so, does that violate disclosure laws that apply to quasi-governmental, statutory non-profit organizations? What state or federal law applies to each issue?

Personally, I believe that Max's income is obscenely high, and is either set or approved by individuals or boards that have massive conflicts of interest and have been breaching their fiduciary duty to the organization for a long time. But I also remember the Nike contract and my perception that this was, from the outset, a product of rank corruption. As for claims of racism, the thought has crossed my mind (as I believe it should), but I don't know the history or details and it doesn't seem like a productive line of inquiry for legal purposes at this (or, in all likelihood, any later) point.

So who has this information? Where are the investigators? If any of this is considered nonpublic information, what members of the organization or press are entitled to disclosure under a Freedom of Information Act request or civil discovery?

You're hired!

Silicon Valley streamers and old time Hollywood Cable/Satellite are battling it out and are scooping up content. But they will contract with the athletes individually to load up meets at the US Sports Force Headquarters at LAX and skip offices of USOPC, USATF, USTA, etc.

Thanks, but I generally only handle cases in the appellate courts, and I'm not even sure that this is a case that may be litigated in a court rather than before an arbitration panel or agency decision-maker. (Based on past experience, this has the feel of a court case.) I also suspect that I would hate almost everyone involved in the case, which can really wear on you over time. That's part of the reason I now tell people that, these days, I intend primarily to work on cases for pigs, chickens, dogs, cats, elephants, and similarly superior beings (though one particular Club Q case is on my mind).

nike is the best thing to ever happen to our sport and they are the worst thing to ever happen to our sport. Closet racism to keep a few people in line to sell more product. Based off their defenders, they won the racism claims. I'm aure black athletes/supporters are proud of themselves. They are great salesmen to the useful idiots at support them.

The contract was approved by a Steve Miller run Board. Who knows what the contract says, if there is a for cause termination provision or what the actual terms are. Subsequent boards may be powerless to do anything. The term runs through ‘24. The fact is that the members could sue like shareholders for breach of fiduciary duty, corporate waste, any number of things, but there is so little at stake that no decent plaintiffs’ lawyer would take it. DOJ has been in their shorts, and maybe there’s a civil case short of a criminal one. (Look at the line items for legal fee/professional service spend - millions responding to DOJ). No idea what Virginia law says, but I wonder if Virginia law allows prevailing party attorneys’ fees to a prevailing derivative action plaintiff - a member or members who sue the board/mgmt on behalf of the corporation. Virginia law does not allow class actions. but get these people - Max, Conley, Renee Washington and a bunch of others - under oath, get discovery of email and corporate docs, and it would effect change. But absent economic incentive for a hard nosed attorney and willing member/delegate plaintiffs, there will never be a remedy. In fact, this week there is a platter of ridiculous proposed bylaws changes advanced by crony Max BOD members and other dupes whereby the proponents ask for the membership to approve abandonment of longstanding member powers. They claim that USOPC demands it. Total scare crow horse sh/t. On the USATF website, the staff manipulated the language of Art 11 to upend term limits before being caught. Nobody gets paid millions to push back against the people who are paid millions to push for self dealing sportocracy.

I would do the job, for some chocolate milk and a burrito and like 750k per year and the usatf could spend the rest on the athletes and make some of their events appear professional.

He was hired to get us to L.A. big time TV.

But he hasn't delivered yet so he doesn't deserve $3.8M.

He needs to get us an L.A. 70,000 permanent seat, hanging double video oval, Extended Reality stadium.

He needs to get us a Netflix Global Streaming contract.

Then he deserves a $3.8M salary.

Not now because he hasn't done anything but ruin the reputation of the United States at the 2022 World Championships.

That was a huge dud.

He had 7 years to guide Nike on how to do a proper World Championships or hire someone who knows how.

That wasn't done.

He failed us.

An embarrassment.

A shame for the United States.

Meanwhile, there have been numerous attempts at creating pro track leagues that could really benefit the athletes, but Nike, USATF, and anybody else that could help support refuse to do so. Guess we now know why

Private school headmasters and executive officers of antediluvian governing bodies have a lot in common: they contribute next to nothing to society.

It’s not just the 1% who rape wealth away from democracy.