As KSMU was first to report on November 18, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, host of the annual Price Cutter Charity Championship golf tournament, is facing serious financial issues. According to an October 9 memo obtained by KSMU, sent from the Hall's CEO Byron Shive to the nonprofit's board of directors, the PCCC tournament is, "facing a significant shortfall with regard to its accounts payable."
Among other consequences, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame was unable to meet its obligation November 19 at the annual Celebration of Sharing event to present approximately $1 million to 48 charities that took part in the 2024 tournament.
In that October 9 memo, KSMU also learned the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame loaned the Price Cutter Charity Championship tournament $350,000 in 2023 to help cover costs written to the 50 or so charities supported by the tournament that year.
Shive has since announced his resignation, effective January 1.
To help shine a little more light on this situation, Mike Smith recently talked with Springfield Attorney Dan Nelson, who is chairman of the board of directors for the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
"We meet regularly and periodically, not on any set schedule, but kind of an as-needed basis, to advise on the affairs at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame," said Nelson.
Righting the ship
The board's first priority is to return to each charity the amount of cash or in-kind contribution, or a combination of each that each charity invested into the Price Cutter Charity Championship tournament to take part with the promise of a high return and a big check, according to Nelson. In November, for example, the Make-A-Wish Foundation's buy in for 2024 tournament was $5,000. They were expecting a check for over $21,000 at the now-cancelled Celebration of Sharing event, that had been set for November 19.
"Well, what we're working on is really a two phase or a two-step process. First is to determine with certainty how much we owe them for what you refer to as their buy in. And so first step is to identify that amount — be sure we have the resources and make that distribution as quickly as possible. And we think that can happen in the very near future probably hopefully by the end of the year. Although that's not a promise, but we think that's entirely possible," said Nelson. "And then the other amounts for their what they earned in sales of raffle tickets and pro-am teams and the auction and other programs that they participated in might take a little longer, probably will take a little longer. So we have to develop solutions to be able to meet those obligations, and we want to do that as quickly as as feasible. So it's a two step process. Get them as much money as we can, hopefully by the end of the year or sooner, and then work on on the remainder of it again to get that accomplished as fast as we can."
The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors is taking action to stabilize current operations and create a workable budget for the rest of the year, he said, and develop a schedule of events and a budget for 2025 to meet their goals. The board voted unanimously to appoint former Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Executive Director Jerald Andrews to serve as interim CEO, according to Nelson. Andrews is Byron Shives' father-in-law.
Jerald Andrews' role as interim CEO
"He will be overseeing the day-to-day operations, albeit on a part time basis, giving the current staff their direction on, you know, how to proceed and work toward a resolution of the current issues and also be sure that the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is able to continue its mission," said Nelson. "We're in an urgent situation, and no one knows the organization better than Mr. Andrews. He operated it successfully for 27 years, so he knows how it works and what needs to be done. And I can tell you that bringing him in on this interim basis was unanimous consensus of the board, and he has their full support."
And according to IRS tax forms from 2022, the forms known as the 990s, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame CEO was making over $351,000 annually, one of the highest paid nonprofit CEOs in the Ozarks.
"Well, he was, I think we were one of the most successful. And, you know, it was performance based, and he earned every dime of it," said Nelson. "But I'll tell you that right now, everything is on the table as to how we go forward. So, you know, we'll be looking at everything as we work our way out of this."
The reporter again pointed out that Byron Shive is Andrew's son-in-law to which Nelson replied, "Yes, Yes. Byron is being — has resigned. His effective date of resignation will be December 31, 2024 because he has been the one running the operations for about the last two years. His continued input and assistance is, I think, and the board agreed, critical to transitioning back to Mr. Andrews on a part time basis. And the other thing is, is we're also working immediately on trying to recruit and identify someone to come in and work in a full time capacity and ultimately phase Mr. Andrews back out of the operations once we are successful in doing that. But that's a little longer term matter that's going to take time to, you know, completely work out."
Moving forward
Dan Nelson said the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors is bringing in a team of accountants to look at the books.
"Yes, we have brought in some outside resources to get that done," he said. "We are working on, I guess, for lack of a better term, shaking up the accounting process to where it would be done more from an independent resource base. That's not fully determined at this point, but some outside accounting professionals will be brought in soon to take over those functions and get that where it needs to be."
As to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame schedule of events for 2025, Nelson said, right now, the Hall's annual enshrinement ceremony is still on tap for February, and the Price Cutter Charity Championship is scheduled for the summer.
"It is, and it's our intent to proceed with those events and others. Mr. Andrews is working with the staff to develop a complete schedule of events for next year that include those two primary events," he said. "The enshrinement is one of our largest fundraisers, if not the largest fundraiser of the year. I know they were working on solidifying the class this week. It's critical to our future success to be able to have that enshrinement, and we have every expectation that it will happen."
Dan Nelson said he sees several advantages even as the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame faces adversity.
"Our board is unified, completely dedicated and committed to solving this problem," Nelson said. "Our charities have been compassionate and so patient and understanding and positive. You know, we are also a charitable organization, and we've given away $20 million to other charities in our location. And so they understand in this time of need, you know, what their support means to us. And it means it means so much. We've got a hard working, dedicated staff that put their shoulder to the wheel and is working harder than ever to make sure that we are a success. And, of course, Mr. Andrews' contribution is invaluable. So the whole community has rallied behind us, and we are so grateful for everyone's patience and understanding, you know, in this difficult time. So as a community, we are grateful for all of the support that's been shown for us in this situation."
