Is $142,000,000,000 Worth NFL a Non Profit Organization?

The NFL has been around since the year, 1920. To this date, it is one of the biggest sports leagues in the world. With a net worth of a whopping $142 billion, the NFL is the highest-earning league in the world. With its brilliant success, the players, owners, managers, and various support staff of the 32 teams enjoy a brilliant level of compensation for their hard work. Interestingly, with such a huge valuation, the shocker remains that the NFL might be a non-profit organization.

There has been a lot of debate about the actual status of the NFL in terms of its status being a non-profit. The question of it being a non-profit also pertains to the league’s duties of paying taxes as an organization. However, the answer is a little more complex than just a simple yes or no.

Is NFL not meant for profit?

For the longest time, the NFL has operated as an unincorporated nonprofit. In fact, they’ve functioned as one since 1942. With this status, comes the advantage of not having to pay taxes to the IRS. This is simply because, on paper, the league does not make any profit. However, all the income that comes in is divided among the 32 teams of the league, who in turn, pay taxes on their income. Therefore, the league has always declared itself as a sort of trade association that gains its funding from the 32 teams that play. However, in the year of 2015, this changed. There were a lot of allegations and questions raised by members of the Senate. Even former POTUS, Donald Trump raised objections to this. Per CBS Sports, to combat this, the NFL decided to give up its non-profit status in the year, 2015.

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Interestingly, the commissioner, Roger Goodell did not seem to bother with this decision. He spoke about how the organization as a whole had been misjudged and mischaracterized repeatedly. In lieu of this, removing their status was simply a removal of a distraction. From the point of technicalities, not a whole lot did not change except one intriguing detail. This detail was not just a minor technicality but it also became an unusual benefit.

The questionable benefit for the NFL office

In terms of fine print, the league as a whole does not come under the non-profit status. While teams and their players and staff are taxed, only the league’s office fall under the non-profit bracket. However, the one questionable thing that will change pertains to Roger Goodell’s salary. For a non-profit, Goodell’s annual salary had been highly irregular. In the year 2012, Goodell was taking home compensation of $44.2 million. This was a gigantic 14% of the league office’s total revenue. Such a high salary was highly unusual for a non-profit organization. And since then, the commissioner’s salary has just increased. The long-serving commissioner who has seen stars like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Patrick Mahomes rise has also seen paychecks that have amassed to whopping half a billion dollars. However, with the change in the policy in 2015, the league’s office stopped being a non-profit.

This also meant that as a tax-paying organization, the NFL would not be required to release the actual salaries of the commissioners and the members of the league office. With such a unique benefit, Goodell’s willingness to drop the non-profit status without any struggle seemed very convenient. Additionally, there were a lot of allegations against the league for not actually doing anything that resembles a non-profit’s behavior. However, the league does have a multitude of wellness campaigns and programs. Their Foundation has been committed to building and giving back to the community.

The league’s initiative for the young

While the NFL brings in a huge amount of revenue, they also have some brilliant community enrichment programs. One of their most successful ones is NFL Play:60. This initiative has been started by the league to ensure that the youth of the country is physically active. The wellness campaign exists to encourage children to be more physically active for at least an hour a day, hence the 60. Launched in 2007, the league has invested more than $352 million in this campaign through programs, grants, and awareness campaigns. They have gone on to provide more than 38 million children with the amenities they might need to increase their physical activity. The league has also supported over 73,000 schools and has constructed more than 265 fitness centers all over the country for youth. And this is not the only initiative they take to help out members of the community. The NFL also helps the brave soldiers of the armed forces.

The NFL’s service to those who serve

The league is highly appreciative of those who make huge sacrifices and serve in the military of the country. The league has made a huge year-round commitment to service members, veterans, and their families through their program of Salute to Service. The Salute to Service commitment has partnerships with various support foundations that are committed to helping service members as well as their families. The NFL even has official merchandise that is collaborative with Salute to Service. Interestingly, all the revenue generated through Salute to Service goes to the partners involved in Salute to Service.

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Despite such huge contributions to the community as a non-profit, the NFL decided to go the profit and taxed route in 2015. Even after all the controversies involving its status as an organization, the league continues the good work they have been doing.