NFL Ending Tax-Exempt Status

National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell told team owners Tuesday that the league would be ending its tax-exempt status, calling the special classification a distraction. “Every dollar of income generated through television-rights fees, licensing agreements, sponsorships, ticket sales, and other means is earned by the 32 clubs and is taxable there,” he wrote in a letter, adding “the change in filing status will make no material difference to our business.” Without the tax-exempt status, granted by Congress, the league will no longer have to disclose Goodell’s salary and other financial information. Some in Congress had raised rescinding the NFL’s tax-exempt status, partially in reaction to its lax treatment of domestic abuse.