Dive Brief:
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Sports Authority is meeting resistance once again from the Justice Department’s U.S. trustee over its proposal for as much as $1.5 million in executive bonus pay, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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Earlier this month the bankrupt sports retailer’s generous bonus plan, which has also raised the objections of lenders and landlords, was criticized by the department watchdog and the presiding judge, and blocked by the court.
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One of the three Sports Authority executives slated to receive bonuses has quit since the bonus program was overturned, the Journal reported. The company has said the bonuses are necessary to ensure that executives do a good job helping it wind down its operations.
Dive Insight:
Sports Authority insists that its executives deserve bonuses for helping employees figure out healthcare coverage, secure utility deposits and dump personal data from the company’s computers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
But federal bankruptcy watchdog Andrew Vara and his legal team say the bonuses are "unseemly" in light of how many creditors won’t be paid under the bankruptcy protection, and “illusory” considering that their tasks may never be completed or will be accomplished by other employees.
Sports Authority's Chapter 11 proceedings have been marked with various legal tussles, including more than 160 lawsuits the retailer filed in March. At issue then was some $85 million worth of winter gear and other goods being sold at Sports Authority stores — items suppliers wanted returned because they feared not getting paid.
The scuffles stymied Sports Authority's efforts to sell more stores and forced the company to liquidate instead. During its latest earnings call, executives at Dick's Sporting Goods said they were in the midst of deciding which of the 31 Sports Authority locations it purchased to keep.
Sports Authority — once the largest sporting goods chain in the U.S. — is now a slim shadow of its former self. In 2006, when the retailer was acquired by private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners for $1.3 billion, its future was bright. But its inability to keep up with trends, build e-commerce returns, pay off debt and fend off competitors from general merchandise brands like Amazon, Wal-Mart and Target have gotten the best of the sports apparel retailer.
