July 2019 - 9

The American Contract
Bridge League
President
Russ Jones
Chair, Board of Directors
Jay Whipple III
Executive Director
Joe Jones
Chair, Board of Governors
Richard Popper

Board of Directors
District 1 * Leo Weniger
District 2 * Paul Janicki
District 3 * Carlos Muñoz
District 4 * Joann Glasson
District 5 * Brian Ellis
District 6 * Margot Hennings
District 7 * Mike Kovacich
District 8 * Georgia Heth
District 9 * Jay Whipple III
District 10 * Russ Jones
District 11 * A.J. Stephani
District 12 * Dennis Carman
District 13 * Suzi Subeck
District 14 * Sharon Anderson
District 15 * Warren Smith
District 16 * Paul Cuneo
District 17 * Bonnie Bagley
District 18 * Claire Jones
District 19 * Julie Smith
District 20 * Merlin Vilhauer
District 21 * Jacqueline Zayac
District 22 * David Lodge
District 23 * Kevin Lane
District 24 * Alvin Levy
District 25 * Bob Bertoni
To contact a district director,
visit acbl.org/boardofdirectors.

A Message
from the President

BY RUSS JONES

2018 was costly for the ACBL

Following the publication of the ACBL's financial
report in the May issue, there have been questions
about the losses sustained in 2018 and the fiscal
health of the League in general. As president, I want
our members to know why last year was particularly
costly for us, while assuring everyone about the
financial stability of the organization.
In 2017, the League experienced a $600,000
positive change in net assets from operations (a
"profit"), and we were headed for another profitable
year in 2018 until three serious setbacks occurred:
the Fall NABC in Honolulu, a pair of lawsuits and a
failed software implementation.
The Honolulu NABC, which was scheduled and
contracted seven years ago, lost approximately $275,000 from excess expenses
over revenue. There was an additional $480,000 loss when we failed to meet
the guaranteed minimum number of hotel rooms, and these charges were
contractually nonnegotiable. Even cancelling the tournament at a late date
would have been quite costly. This brought the total loss from Honolulu to
more than $755,000. Going forward, the Board will ensure that contracts are
thoroughly examined before execution.
The second area of loss was caused by the unfavorable outcome of two
lawsuits. The first was a breach of contract claim, and the second was a
termination without cause claim by a former contracted employee. In both
cases, we believed we had a reasonable chance of success, but we lost in court/
arbitration.
The final hit was the halting of a customer relationship management
software installation after we had expended more than $325,000 on the project.
We determined that, upon completion, it would not meet the needs of the
League without extensive modifications that would have put the project well
over budget and into the seven-figure range.
Now that the 2018 storm has passed, it is time for some positive news.
The Memphis NABC turned a profit, and the League's financials for the first
five months indicate a net gain from operations of $375,000. We anticipate
further net gains from the two remaining NABCs in 2019 (Las Vegas and San
Francisco). We also have approximately $7.5 million in cash and investments.
This is actually an increase from what the League had just two years ago.
The ACBL is not going bankrupt - not even close. We have started off with
a healthy gain from operations in 2019 and expect it to continue to grow
throughout the year. Although 2018 was a bad year financially for the ACBL,
it was not due to normal operations, but rather to a series of unusual events.
Despite our solid financial framework, however, we remain vigilant about ways
to cut costs.
See you at the bridge tables.
◾
July 2019 Bridge Bulletin

9
http://www.acbl.org/boardofdirectors
July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2019
