WASHINGTON — The National Football League's front office will voluntarily give up its decades-old tax-exempt status, Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Tuesday.
NFL teams pay taxes on their profits but the league's central office has gotten a pass since it is listed a non-profit trade or industry association.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, in a memo to the NFL's 32 teams, said the league's tax status has been "mischaracterized repeatedly in recent years" and is a "distraction."
"The fact is that the business of the NFL has never been tax exempt," he said. "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.