Use of Volunteers Questioned as NFL Revenue Soars

Volunteerism has become as much a part of the Super Bowl as the Roman numeral identification of games, allowing those who cannot attend the game to be a part of the festivities by welcoming those who can.

When the Super Bowl was last played in a cold-weather city, with the Giants edging the New England Patriots, 21-17, in Indianapolis to close the 2011 season, members of both teams were left with a warm and fuzzy feeling. They received blue-and-white scarves that were knitted by members of the community and that featured a logo patch sewn on by inmates at a local prison.

Alfred Kelly, chief executive of the New York-New Jersey Super Bowl Host Committee, estimated that 9,000 residents of the tristate area would serve as volunteers in the days leading to Sunday's N.F.L. championship game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. That is far fewer than the 20,000 who were initially contemplated, leaving the committee to scramble to cover 80 locations, some with multiple posts. And the feel-good interaction between yellow-jacketed volunteers and chilled visitors is somewhat overshadowed by current and potential litigation.

The N.F.L. opted to hire temporary paid workers for positions in which volunteers had historically been used in an apparent response to a class-action suit brought by the firm Outten & Golden, which is based in Manhattan, against Major League Baseball, which did not pay volunteers at the All-Star FanFest at the Javits Center in July.

'We are aware of the ongoing litigation against Major League Baseball,' said Brian McCarthy, an N.F.L. spokesman. 'Due in part to the size and complexity of the Super Bowl, we determined that it was advisable to use paid staff in certain roles this year. We have hired 1,500 temporary paid staffers who will perform specific functions at N.F.L. events.'

With about $10 billion in annual revenue, the N.F.L. certainly has the wherewithal to pay workers. In fact, the N.F.L. is paying several thousand security workers to patrol Super Bowl Boulevard in Midtown Manhattan and hires many vendors to provide other services. But in bidding to host the games, cities and teams put together a package of enticements, from hotel rooms to convention centers, and they often promise volunteers as a way to provide logistical support and local enthusiasm.

That help will be used at Super Bowl Boulevard, a 13-block stretch from Herald Square to Times Square that has been turned into an outdoor festival. Paid workers also will be present at the media center and at various game-day events. It is unclear whether such staffing will become part of the cost of doing business for what is, by far, the most prosperous sports league.

'We will address future Super Bowls after this one,' McCarthy said.

The Super Bowl will be held next year in Glendale, Ariz., and then San Francisco and Houston in succeeding seasons.

Francisco said volunteers were reminded several times at a mandatory three-hour orientation session that they had been accepted for unpaid positions. All were required to sign a waiver in which they agreed not to be part of a class-action suit seeking payment. The host committee estimated that the Super Bowl would attract 500,000 visitors who will pump $600 million into the local economy, although economists have expressed skepticism about those numbers.

Justin M. Swartz, a lawyer with Outten & Golden, said the N.F.L. might be vulnerable, despite the signing of waivers by volunteers in which they agreed not to be paid.

'The fact that the N.F.L. is paying some of its workers is laudable, but it also raises the question of why it is not paying all of its workers,' Swartz said. 'The extra steps the N.F.L. is taking to protect itself make me even more suspicious.'

He said his firm was investigating the league's use of volunteers at recent Super Bowls.

According to Kelly, litigation against Major League Baseball led the host committee to reduce the number of volunteers it sought.

'The fact of the matter is that after the All-Star Game and Major League Baseball being sued, the N.F.L. decided for this Super Bowl to go in a different direction,' he said.

He said about 11,000 people answered the N.F.L.'s call to 'join the world's biggest huddle' and donate their time, a tradition that goes back to the very first Super Bowl after the 1966 season. The number dropped this year when not all of them signed up for shifts, which typically last four hours, and a few failed security background checks. Despite that, Kelly said, the response ensured there would be enough friendly faces and helping hands at major sites like airports, hotels and various transportation hubs. Volunteers, who are able to keep their uniform jackets and hats, were out in full force on Tuesday, despite the bitter cold, from the media day in Newark to landmarks in New York City. They are not, however, used at the game.

'For the locations we are covering now, we are above where we expected or wanted to be,' he said.

But numerous volunteers said the host committee contacted them recently via email to ask whether they would devote additional hours.

'People must be dropping out,' said Jose Francisco, 25, of North Bergen, N.J. 'It must be the cold weather.'

Francisco, who will be placed at Newark Airport, will have the benefit of an indoor location. He said of his role: 'Where is the bathroom? Where can I get a cab? That's me.'

In filing its suit against Major League Baseball, Outten & Golden argued that 'M.L.B. could have easily afforded to pay its FanFest workers. M.L.B. charged adults $35 and children 2 years and older $30 to enter FanFest. Thousands of adults and children attended FanFest between July 12 and July 16, 2013, and, upon information and belief, spent over one million dollars there.'

The firm also noted the value of numerous corporate sponsorships sold in conjunction with FanFest and the All-Star Game.

'These corporate sponsorships earned M.L.B. significant revenue,' the plaintiffs claimed in the suit. 'None of that revenue, however, ended up in the pockets of the New Yorkers whom M.L.B. recruited to provide the labor necessary to prepare for and run FanFest and other All-Star Game events.'

Frank Deford, in a commentary for NPR on July 31, described sports volunteers as suckers. 'From the players to the networks to the hotels, everybody involved with it makes a killing,' he said of the Super Bowl. 'Why would anybody volunteer to work for free for the Super Bowl? Would you volunteer to work free for Netflix or Disney World?'

Still, many people like Francisco and Bob Hogan, 67, of Ringwood, N.J., said they volunteered not because of money but to show community spirit.

'It is a pride thing that we should show we can do this,' Hogan said. 'I want this to succeed.'

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