You are mistaken. These comments and stories keep appearing because Internet commenters see the word non-profit, and see the money the NFL makes and think some type of shady scam is going on. This is not the case. Also does everyone honestly think the biggest moneymaking sports franchise in the USA would not catch the eye of the IRS if they were exploiting the system?
Each NFL team pays taxes on their profits at the local level. The umbrella org disperses those funds around to all teams. This is how nfl teams vs something like the MLB can play on equal monetary footing. The umbrella org doesn't get taxed on the money because it already has been taxed.
"The NFL League Office is a not-for-profit organization. The NFL League Office receives funding from the 32 member clubs to cover its non-revenue overhead activities such as office rent, League Office salaries and game officiating. In addition, the NFL League Office collects revenues on behalf of the 32 member clubs and distributes those revenues to the clubs. All national revenues (e.g. broadcast TV payments) collected and paid to the member clubs, as well as local revenues earned individually by the clubs, are subject to tax at the club level."
Roger Goodell pays taxes on his large salary. The NFLs 990 tax form shows they posted a loss as of their last filing.
> These comments and stories keep appearing because Internet commenters see the word non-profit, and see the money the NFL makes and think some type of shady scam is going on.
Whatever else you might say, this does not appear to be the case for the person you are replying to and inserting it in there detracts from your own argument. None of that is helped by the fact that you reiterate points they have already addressed and acknowledged and the only facts you've added are that Roger Goodell pays taxes and that the NFL posted a loss. And I'm being generous, as this may be implied by parent post's discussion of maximizing the flow of funds out of the NFL.
The broader point--that the US supports a moneymaking enterprise by means of tax breaks, stadiums, etc. in ways that have questionable financial benefit to the public at large--does not appear to be well-addressed by your arguments.
FWIW, I don't think you'll find many people here who don't know that "non profit" doesn't mean "no money." And even if they did, there's nothing wrong with comparing what the public spends to what they get. There are plenty of ways for people to get "double" taxed, after all. Doesn't mean we don't have to pay them.
Sorry I guess I should have stopped repeating myself and just said that the posters above are just misinformed.
> of maximizing the flow of funds out of the NFL.
The money to the NFL org comes from the 32 teams which have already been taxed, some operating expenses are taken from this pool, then the cash is redistributed equally to the teams.
> The broader point--that the US supports a moneymaking enterprise by means of tax breaks, stadiums, etc. in ways that have questionable financial benefit to the public at large--does not appear to be well-addressed by your arguments.
This thread was mainly debunking the fact that the NFL is bilking the American public by it being a non-profit. I'd agree it is up in the air about subsiding big sporting arenas etc. My city built a $600 million stadium not too long ago and raised taxes so that we could host the Super Bowl. Apparently the city believed it was a net-net win for the state overall.
Each NFL team pays taxes on their profits at the local level. The umbrella org disperses those funds around to all teams. This is how nfl teams vs something like the MLB can play on equal monetary footing. The umbrella org doesn't get taxed on the money because it already has been taxed.
"The NFL League Office is a not-for-profit organization. The NFL League Office receives funding from the 32 member clubs to cover its non-revenue overhead activities such as office rent, League Office salaries and game officiating. In addition, the NFL League Office collects revenues on behalf of the 32 member clubs and distributes those revenues to the clubs. All national revenues (e.g. broadcast TV payments) collected and paid to the member clubs, as well as local revenues earned individually by the clubs, are subject to tax at the club level."
Roger Goodell pays taxes on his large salary. The NFLs 990 tax form shows they posted a loss as of their last filing.
Easy summary of the issue: http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2014/02/01/flap-abo...