NFL non profit?

[PurpleJarl]

I just read somewhere that the NFL is considered a non profit! I did some digging and found this article

http://articles.businessinsider.com/201 ... -exemption

I know this is a non politics zone, but I THINK this is okay since its not a party line things and its NFL related.

Personally I had no idea and I think its absurd. I wont be spending a penny on anything that will fill the NFLs coffers anymore

[Cliff]

I found this about it. Makes since. Horrible loophole though.

It's not that hard to believe. It's the teams that take in the revenue. The league is just the organization that sells franchises and enforces rules.

The Packers are a nonprofit organization (I'm a shareholder and see the annual financial reports), so it wouldn't surprise me if the NFL is, too.

The only thing non-profit means is that all revenues are plowed back into the organization. It doesn't mean no money is made. It just means there's zero on the balance sheet at the end of the fiscal year, after all salaries and expenses are paid.

The only ones who pull in a profit are probably the owners of the 31 privately owned teams. (The Packers have no single owner, so any profits that would go to an owner on another team are simply put back into the franchise. We Packers shareholders don't get any dividends.)

[S197]

I think a lot of people confuse non-profit with no profit. They are not the same, and in fact, many non-profit executives earn rather healthy salaries. Top executives can earn $1 to $4 million per year.

And it's not just charities, it extends to coaches as well. Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and Pete Carroll at USC are some examples. (Yes, these private universities are also non-profit)

[PurpleJarl]

I guess I fail to see the point of a 8.3 billion dollar organization (the NFL its self, as in the entity in New York that is the classified non profit) getting a tax break like that.


especially since no other "professional sports league" gets that break

[Cliff]

I guess I fail to see the point of a 8.3 billion dollar organization (the NFL its self, as in the entity in New York that is the classified non profit) getting a tax break like that.


especially since no other "professional sports league" gets that break

I would take it up with the people that write the tax laws rather than the companies that use them. Everybody saves as much as they can when it comes to taxes

The problem is that people automatically associate "non-profit" with charity and the terms aren't synonymous. I think the tax laws should be worded to give charitable organizations the tax break rather than "non-profit" organizations but I don't think that's how it's worded.

Then again, I don't agree with religious institutions getting tax-exempt status either. So YMMV.

[PurpleJarl]

My point is that the NFL is SPECIFICALLY written into the law. As in mentioned in the actual tax code as being tax exempt for being a non profit. It stinks to me.

[glg]

I guess I fail to see the point of a 8.3 billion dollar organization (the NFL its self, as in the entity in New York that is the classified non profit) getting a tax break like that.

Because it's a gross oversimplification to call it a tax break? The league doesn't hang onto the money it makes, it passes that money on to the teams, who either pay taxes on it as profit or spend it, a big chunk on salaries, which are taxed themselves.

What it means is that NFL can't pay dividends like a for-profit can, meaning it can only disburse revenue to its members or pay it out as salary to its employees.