Easy question — the NFL head office gets to operate as a non-profit (even though individual teams pay taxes), exempt from Federal taxes. There’s probably not a ton of money involved in eliminating this tax subsidy, but there is no reason my a sports league (even if it is the head office only) to no have to pay taxes. It isn’t as though the NFL needs any special incentives to operate or to make money. They squeeze enough of those out of the taxpayers of the cities they play in. And apparently, professional hockey and professional golf have the same deal. Seriously?
This week two Democratic senators have announced bills that would put this obvious farce to an end. In response to the outrage swirling over the NFL’s apparent tolerance of domestic abuse, New Jersey’s Cory Booker introduced legislation that would prohibit tax-free status for all major sports leagues. (The National Hockey League and PGA Tour are also nonprofits.) Washington state’s Maria Cantwell, meanwhile, is offering a bill targeted directly at the NFL’s tax-exempt status, prompted by its refusal to force the Washington, D.C., franchise to change its name from a racial slur against Native Americans.
Even if it’s taken a series of national scandals to give this idea a fresh push, it’s nice to see common sense gaining more steam. Previously, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma (whose state lacks an NFL team) and the House Ways and Means Committee have proposed legislation that would strip sports leagues of their nonprofit status. But if senators representing Giants, Jets, and Seahawks fans suddenly feel comfortable getting behind this idea, that’s progress.
What do you think? Eliminate the tax exemption or no?
ps. The guys from South Park got in abit of epic trolling of the owner of the Redskins in their ad for the season premiere of South Park:
