The NFL has enjoyed tax-exempt status as a non-profit organization since the early 1940s. The sport and the business surrounding it has changed in the last 70 years. The league enjoys lucrative TV contracts that rake in billions of dollars every year. Forbes values 22 of the 31 privately owned teams at over one billion dollars each. The commisioner made $30 million in 2011.
They should all be ashamed of their tax-exempt status. These are not charitable organizations. Major League Baseball gave up tax-exempt status long ago. The NBA has never held tax-exempt status. It's time the NFL joined the rank and file of its millions of paying customers and started paying Uncle Sam.