The National Football League takes in more than $9.5 billion per year and is EXEMPT from Federal taxes. As a NONPROFIT, it earns more than the Y, the Red Cross, Goodwill, the Salvation Army or Catholic Charities – yet it stands as one of the greatest profit-generating commercial advertising, entertainment and media enterprises ever created.
An arcane tax code change that eased the 1966 merger of the NFL with the old American Football League landed the new combined entity in section 501(c)6 of the tax code, designated as an industry association. The designation actually covers “chambers of commerce, real estate boards, boards of trade, and professional football leagues.”
For real nonprofits out there trying to raise funds for crucial social missions, the NFL’s exempt status is atrocious.