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The NFL Is A Tax-Exempt Organization — But One Senator Wants To Change That

Friggin Tax Code. There is no reason for this exemption. Even in the 60s. Its time to scrap the damn code and start over.
 
They shouldn't be taxed. If they are not profiting directly then theres nothing to tax. If they are a business, then they are passing down the taxes in prices, so they aren't paying taxes anyway. No group should be taxed, only individuals.

They do profit directly. They have licensing profits, sales profits from tickets and merchandise, and they have media profits from their broadcasts. All of these things are taxable for any other for profit business in the US including entertainment, which is what they are. Not to mention they must have done some major alteration to the normal NFP organization to get the NFL in there considering that they do not abide by any of the normal regulations of NFPs. This is a pure commercial business that is being treated like a charity.
 
Read closer, they are talking about the individual teams, which do pay taxes. The "NFL" 501c6 does not profit.

So why not tax whole organization instead of individual teams? Since they clearly operate for profit and not as a charity.
 
So why not tax whole organization instead of individual teams? Since they clearly operate for profit and not as a charity.

Let us tax both. The NFL: is not providing a community service that is for everyone. The NFL provides an entertainment venue for sports fans. I see the purpose of the law to allow local sports leagues to operate for community benefit to provide a competitive organization for recreational players to play under. The NFL does not do this, they have a very exclusive organization which plays for the entertainment of their fans. They are not doing anything for the community, they are simply running games for profit. This means we should tax them at all levels as we would tax any other business.
 
Let us tax both. The NFL: is not providing a community service that is for everyone. The NFL provides an entertainment venue for sports fans. I see the purpose of the law to allow local sports leagues to operate for community benefit to provide a competitive organization for recreational players to play under. The NFL does not do this, they have a very exclusive organization which plays for the entertainment of their fans. They are not doing anything for the community, they are simply running games for profit. This means we should tax them at all levels as we would tax any other business.

Couldn't have said it better myself. :]
 
We need a very public discussion about what does and does not constitute a charity. First I learn that the Mormon church used .2% of its money for charitable causes and now this...
 
So why not tax whole organization instead of individual teams? Since they clearly operate for profit and not as a charity.

Because its not a whole organization. Its a bunch of businesses who are members of a trade organization.
 
They do profit directly. They have licensing profits, sales profits from tickets and merchandise, and they have media profits from their broadcasts. All of these things are taxable for any other for profit business in the US including entertainment, which is what they are. Not to mention they must have done some major alteration to the normal NFP organization to get the NFL in there considering that they do not abide by any of the normal regulations of NFPs. This is a pure commercial business that is being treated like a charity.

No, the whole point is they aren't profiting. Any income they have is spent so that they don't profit.
 
Let us tax both. The NFL: is not providing a community service that is for everyone. The NFL provides an entertainment venue for sports fans. I see the purpose of the law to allow local sports leagues to operate for community benefit to provide a competitive organization for recreational players to play under. The NFL does not do this, they have a very exclusive organization which plays for the entertainment of their fans. They are not doing anything for the community, they are simply running games for profit. This means we should tax them at all levels as we would tax any other business.

Any other business should also be zero. Any tax they pay is passed down to consumers or employees, thus theres no point in taxing them other than industry specific fees for related services. Al taxing them does is increases consumer prices.
 
i'd be
pretty happy if they just paid for their own stadiums / upkeep. given that this will never happen, taxing the league seems an acceptable alternative.

i admit that i'm tired of paying local taxes for entertainment that i don't care about in the least. the only thing that annoys me more is the portion of my cable bill that goes to sports. i have watched ESPN a total of ten minutes in the past 14 years. i would drop it in a heartbeat of exchange it for HBO if given the option.

I know. **** the NFL
 
Cite your info.

Its in the OP, and the stuff you posted. The NFL 501c6 is classified by the IRS.

To meet the requirements of IRC 501(c)(6) and Reg. 1.501(c)(6)-1, an Characteristics organization must possess the following characteristics:
of an IRC 501(c)(6)

1. It must be an association of persons having some common business Organization interest and its purpose must be to promote this common business interest;
2.
It must be a membership organization and have a meaningful extent of membership support;
3.
It must not be organized for profit;
4.
No part of its net earnings may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual;
5.
Its activities must be directed to the improvement of business conditions of one or more lines of business (discussed under “The ‘Line of Business’ Requirement,” page 21) as distinguished from the performance of particular services for individual persons;
6.
Its primary activity does not consist of performing particular services for individual persons; and
7.
Its purpose must not be to engage in a regular business of a kind ordinarily carried on for profit, even if the business is operated on a cooperative basis or produces only sufficient income to be self-sustaining.

You can even see its financials showing it does not profit.

Nonprofit Report for NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
 
i'd be pretty happy if they just paid for their own stadiums / upkeep. given that this will never happen, taxing the league seems an acceptable alternative.

i admit that i'm tired of paying local taxes for entertainment that i don't care about in the least. the only thing that annoys me more is the portion of my cable bill that goes to sports. i have watched ESPN a total of ten minutes in the past 14 years. i would drop it in a heartbeat of exchange it for HBO if given the option.

The teams ARE taxed. And cities arent forced to buy them stadiums. They choose to because sports teams are an economic boon.
 
The teams ARE taxed. And cities arent forced to buy them stadiums. They choose to because sports teams are an economic boon.

they're forced. both of our pro sports teams threatened to leave if new stadiums weren't built. the football team even gets a piece of every non-football event that is held in the stadium. meanwhile, they cut three hundred million from public schools at the same time.

maintenance is paid for through food / beverage / car rental / hotel taxes for all of the surrounding counties. i rarely visit the capital unless i absolutely have to, and this is part of the reason.

sports are fine, but i don't want to be forced to fund them.
 
I for one am not particularly outraged over this. They're talking about the league organization, not the teams or players.

A revenue loss of $91 million a year for all such leagues is a drop in the bucket.
 
they're forced. both of our pro sports teams threatened to leave if new stadiums weren't built. the football team even gets a piece of every non-football event that is held in the stadium. meanwhile, they cut three hundred million from public schools at the same time.

maintenance is paid for through food / beverage / car rental / hotel taxes for all of the surrounding counties. i rarely visit the capital unless i absolutely have to, and this is part of the reason.

sports are fine, but i don't want to be forced to fund them.

Thats not forced. THats negotiation.
 
this is intended to mislead people that don't know how the league operates

the individual teams profit, and are taxed.

the NFL isn't a charity, but they aren't really "for profit" either. Profits largely get divided up and shared with the 32 teams.
 
How can NFL be ranked most profitable sports league and not profit. Tax League instead of taxes teams, and take them off that non profit listing.

If you tax the league instead of the teams, you will get no taxes, because the league does not profit, only the teams do.
 
Sports teams are the new religions. We need sports-state separation, including an end to their non-profit status and an end to give-aways by local governments.
 
You will get extra $91 million.

No, you would get zero, because the NFL would write off its income and losses.

Edit: but I understand that your goal is simply to collect tax from everything nfl. agree to disagree. So long as you understand that the 501c6 NFL is legally a non profit in that it meets the definition set by the IRS.
 
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Sports teams are the new religions. We need sports-state separation, including an end to their non-profit status and an end to give-aways by local governments.

Sports teams are not non profits. Why is this so hard for you all to understand?
 
The NFL Is A Tax-Exempt Organization -- But One Senator Wants To Change That | ThinkProgress



Wow, the things you learn. One of the biggest most profitable sports businesses out there is tax exempt. They are considered a charity. What I am amazed about is that few people seem to actually care that we have missed out on billions of dollars of tax revenue from professional sports businesses posing as NFPs. What charity is this? the help the steroid addicted rage machines to have billions of dollars charity? Oh, and before anyone blames Obama for this, it seems to have been around since 1966. This is not a church, or an organization that is going to be destroyed by a little taxation. These professional sports organizations have not only been skirting their tax responsibilities, but also taking advantage of taxpayer payouts, forcing cable and satellite companies to charge every one of their customers for sports networks they may never watch, and occasionally causing riots in our streets and certainly a fair share of bar fights every week.

How is it that no one in our government up until now has thought to tax these professional sports leagues? These are not amateur or rec leagues that help provide activities for a community, these are pro sports with pure business motives. We need tax revenue, and they get huge benefits from being in america where many of these sports are insanely popular. This should be a no brainer for an amendment, so who out here agrees with me that this amendment to the tax code will get shot down by both sides?

The NFL is a non-profit. The individual teams are for profit businesses and pay taxes. On the surface I'm okay with that. I'm not sure what the financial details are but my educated guess is the NFL really doesn't bring in any significant money. They don't sell tickets, merchandise, broadcast rights, etc. That's all individual team business or if the NFL does, its only on behalf of the teams who get all the money. The NFL only hires referees, sets the schedules, officiates over the draft, establishes rules, fines and violators, negotiates with the players union and TV networks, operates the NFL Hall of Fame and manages the players/coaches/other team and league employee retirement fund. Again, just an educated guess. Its the teams that have all the money, not the association they belong to. I'm sure they have an operating budget as they have employees to pay like the commissioner, the refs, lawyers, support staff, etc. but I'd bet its nothing compared to what the teams make.
 
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