NFL Changes Tax Status: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

The NFL will reportedly no longer be exempt from taxes after changing its status to taxable.

Per Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal and Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg News, NFL headquarters opted to drop its tax-exempt status:

The league has been classified as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code, which lists "professional football leagues," per Steve Ginsburg of Reuters.

Soshnick noted that the NFL's decision means Roger Goodell's salary—as well as those of future NFL commissioners, as long as the league remains taxed—no longer has to be publicly disclosed:

The NFL's tax-exempt status has been a source of controversy in Congress. Speaking to CNN in February after Super Bowl XLIX, Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz said, "You tell people that the NFL is a nonprofit entity and they just start laughing and giggling. But it's not fair."

Chaffetz noted he would like to discuss the situation with Goodell.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in 2013, per Kristi Dosh of ESPN.com, that the NFL League Office is a "not-for-profit organization" that receives money from all 32 franchises to "cover its non-revenue overhead activities such as office rent, League Office salaries and game officiating."

Major professional sports organizations like the NHL and the PGA Tour are tax exempt, as Dosh notes in her report. Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association do pay taxes.

By changing its tax status, the NFL does not have to draw the ire of Congress anymore. It can conduct business as usual, so nothing will change as far as fans are concerned. The only difference will be the league giving money to the government on April 15.