Senator threatens NFL's tax-exempt status over the Redskins name

[The Minsky Moment]

The NFL is NOT tax-exempt. Its revenues get get passed down to the teams and the teams pay taxes on it.

The NFL is a separate organization from the individual franchises and it is tax exempt.

[MadImmortalMan]

The NFL is a separate organization from the individual franchises and it is tax exempt.

Sure but it's a pass-through entity for those funds. It has no profit, right?

[CountDeMoney]

I thought the NFL was a simply a trade association in name, and the teams were the profiting parties, along with other separate entities as NFL Properties, Inc.

[Sheilbh]

The NFL is NOT tax-exempt. Its revenues get get passed down to the teams and the teams pay taxes on it.

Apparently it's explicitly in the tax code:

Previously, a sentence in Section 501(c)6 had granted not-for-profit status to "business leagues, chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, or boards of trade." Since 1966, the code has read: "business leagues, chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, boards of trade, or professional football leagues."

Why doesn't baseball get the exemption? Apparently golf and hockey do

Interesting that getting rid of the exemption seems to attract support from both parties, Tom Coburn's very keen for example.

[CountDeMoney]

Tom Coburn's very keen for example.

He'll find a way to be a douchebag about it, I'm sure.

[Tonitrus]

Wasn't there a connection regarding the NFL's tax exempt status, and MLB's lack of it, with the fact that the NFL has a salary cap, and MLB does not?

[Admiral Yi]

Why doesn't baseball get the exemption?

My guess is because there's no pooled revenue in baseball. 

[Tonitrus]

Why doesn't baseball get the exemption?

My guess is because there's no pooled revenue in baseball.

Oh yeah, that too.  So probably the entire economic structural differences between the two organizations.

[CountDeMoney]

Why doesn't baseball get the exemption?

My guess is because there's no pooled revenue in baseball.

This is true; disparity in team payrolls, ticket sales, independent revenue streams like television networks, etc.

Hell, the reason the Orioles don't spend any money anymore is because of their revenue deal from MASN, which they share with the Nationals, which suits Peter Asbestos just fine.  No reason for a risky return on investment like payroll when the money's flowing in from MASN's Nationals and their fans.  Why spend money on winning when the Nationals are doing it for you?

[Neil]

White guilt is a funny thing.

Eh if the name was the Kraut Jew Killers I would want that one changed to.

I feel differently.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Wasn't there a connection regarding the NFL's tax exempt status, and MLB's lack of it, with the fact that the NFL has a salary cap, and MLB does not?

According to the IRS, the NFL's special exemption has to do with the player pension program.

[fhdz]

White guilt is a funny thing.

So is white privilege. It'd be a wash, except: white.

[KRonn]

I never cared for the name and don't care either way if they keep it, but it isn't a name to demean Amer Indians. I think it comes from the practice of some Indians who painted themselves red before battle to show ferocity.

Heh, maybe to get even with the Senator the team should move out of Washington DC. That may not change its tax status but the revenue from the team, players and stadium would be gone from DC.

[Barrister]

I never cared for the name and don't care either way if they keep it, but it isn't a name to demean Amer Indians. I think it comes from the practice of some Indians who painted themselves red before battle to show ferocity.

The meaning of words change over time.

Now, in 2014, the term "Redskin" is a slur.

[Tonitrus]

Even some Navajo codetalkers were bought off to say it's not a slur...