Critics cry foul as NFL defends nonprofit status

At NFL headquarters on Park Avenue in Manhattan, the daily business may span game scheduling, referee hiring or media-rights bargaining – an operation financially fueled by all 32 pro teams which collectively pay more than $250 million in annual “membership dues.”

All of that revenue received by the league office — more than a half billion dollars since 2010 — is untouchable to the Internal Revenue Service.

Score? No, says the NFL’s tax attorney, Jeremy Spector. He says the league office, according to U.S. tax code, is a nonprofit trade association, promoting football and serving as an agent and organizer for the 32 clubs. And it’s been that way since the 1940s.

Out of bounds? Yes, says U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn- R-Okla., who filed a bill in September to revoke the tax exemption, asserting that working folks are subsidizing a special break for a sports league. He’s got 275,000 supporters in spirit: Americans who have signed a Change.org petition that asks Congress to strip the nonprofit status.

Source: Bill Briggs NBC News