Here’s a good idea – end the tax-exempt status of the National F0otball League.
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Wait.
The WHAT??
Why the sam hill is the NFL tax-exempt in the first place?!
I have no idea, but it is. So I signed the petition saying let’s not do that any more.
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I think it’s only the management bit (the NFL League Office) that’s tax-exempt, not the teams. http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/nflexempt.asp
But still.
Because football is a religion, of course. What, you mean you didn’t know that?
Always check Snopes. Only a small part of the NFL enjoys tax-exempt status. Though how small is “small,” dollar-wise, I don’t know.
Signed and shared.
BTW, Dave W, you should have read further into the Snopes article. Even if it’s only “a tiny part” of the NFL that’s tax-exempt, that “tiny part” is still a central part of the NFL, and ought to be taxed.
The bigger scandal is how pervasive abuse of the not-for-profit status is. It is entirely legal for a not-for-profit to have a profit sharing plan and to pay its executive officers huge salaries. Often the not-for-profit is used to establish a for-profit entity that is spun out and essentially given to the owners of the not-for-profit.
Not-for-profit does not mean charity.
I’d be far more pleased to see the Roman Catholic Church, and all of the others, taxed than to worry about the NFL league office.
WMDKitty @3, I read further, and I’m having a hard time getting worked up over the fact that less than 2.8% of the NFL’s total revenues are taxed only once instead of twice. Are we trying to ban all 501(c)(6) organizations, or just those trying to further professional sports? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for example, has tax-free revenues about 80% of the NFL’s. Where’s the petition to get rid of their exempt status?
Mind you, I could get behind a total ban on professional sports leagues. I think they represent a net drain on local governments, much like the Olympics or World Cup. And while stripping the NFL of its 501(c)(6) status might result in another $10 million in federal tax revenue, getting rid of the NFL entirely would allow the fans to spend $8 billion or so on other pursuits every year, and give my mother-in-law more certainty in her Sunday night TV viewing schedule.
It only gets to be a religion if the cheerleaders are made priestesses and the best members of the team that wins the Superbowl are ritually sacrificed to ensure the fertility of the harvest. The coach of the losing team is declared the King of Fools and lives in luxury for a year before being killed in next year’s halftime show.
I’ve seen The Wicker Man too many times. 🙂