Recently Tom Coburn — one of Washington’s few consistent voices for less spending and low taxes — announced he will be retiring from the Senate. But before he leaves, here’s hoping he puts one in the National Football League’s end zone.
The Oklahoma Republican has a bill called the PRO Sports Act that would strip the NFL and other sports leagues making more than $10 million a year of their tax-exempt status. Didn’t know the NFL was a nonprofit? That’s understandable. You probably also didn’t know that Commissioner Roger Goodell pulls in $29,419,000 a year, according to the latest available Form 990 tax filing.
Football’s not alone here. Organizations from the National Hockey League to the Ladies Professional Golf Association also operate as nonprofit trade associations. By contrast, Major League Baseball does not.
The NFL rightly notes it’s only the league that’s nonprofit; the teams and players all pay taxes. But trade associations are supposed to promote their trade, whereas the NFL plainly is promoting its brand.
It’s also far from the only taxpayer help pro football receives. Across America, cities have built stadiums for teams — something they don’t do for other, less glamorous employers.
We’re all for lowering taxes for business. But let’s lower them for everyone, rather than giving well-heeled industries such as the NFL privileged treatment.
So we’re with Sen. Coburn. And until the special tax breaks go away, maybe the name of the upcoming game between the Broncos and the Seahawks should be changed from the Super Bowl to the Subsidy Bowl.