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Report: '40 Yards of Gold' winners have yet to be paid prize money
Marquise Goodwin might unofficially be the fastest player in the NFL after winning the “40 Yards of Gold” competition against some speedy competition. But collecting his prize money has been a shockingly slow affair so far.
According to a story in The Athletic, Goodwin and the other prizewinners in the inaugural competition have received their checks for winning but were reportedly told not to cash their checks until the end of this week.
The San Francisco 49ers wide receiver is slated to take home $1 million, with an additional $1 million reportedly pooled for the runners-up. Goodwin edged out Carolina Panthers cornerback Donte Jackson in the finals to win the gold.
Why must the winners wait to get paid?
The winners were told that they can cash their checks on Friday — the day after July 4, a bank holiday — after the event’s pay-per-view numbers come in.
Organizers boasted that the PPV event would be available in more than 93 million homes, but the cost of watching the event was on the level of a heavyweight title fight at a whopping $39.95. It’s not clear if the payout money is contingent on the PPV figures.
Additionally, the event did not sell as well as expected. It was held at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, with a seating capacity of 20,737. But photos and videos from the event showed scores of empty seats, with attendance estimates in the 2,000-to-3,000 range. Organizers boasted to The Athletic in May that the event would sell out.
Will this be the last year ‘40 Yards of Gold’ is run?
The 16-runner, tournament-style competition featured some incredibly fast NFL players, including Goodwin, who ran track in college and competed in the long jump at the 2012 London Olympics. Jackson reached the finals by beating cornerbacks Trae Waynes and Jalen Myrick handily and then edging the Bears’ John Franklin III by a mere 0.01 seconds to reach the final.
So there was some drama with the competition, but also some disappointment.
Two of the better-known runners — New Orleans Saints wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. and Washington Redskins cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie — failed to show up for the event. Neither of them stated a reason for dropping out, and their agents had no comments.
Players who competed were promised appearance fees. Those who won individual races also were told they’d get additional prize money. Goodwin was promised the $1 million grand prize — and he might still receive it, on Friday or later.
But if the payments don’t come through as expected, it’s possible this event is scrapped as a one-off. Some NFL agents and team officials already were leery about letting their players participate, and there might have been some players who were already prohibited from competing because of stipulations written into their contracts.
We’ll wait to see what happens with the prize money. It might just be an accounting glitch that’s much ado about nothing. But if those checks don’t cash as expected, you can be sure to hear about it from some angry players, and this event could fall apart in a hurry.
After all, all that glitters isn’t gold.
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