The NFL's Secret Finances

The NFL is considered a very public company, considering their weekly outing of games and events involving a league. However, this business is very private in a sense, considering it keeps its financial records incredibly private. And according to Bloomberg, the league's financial growth has now been exposed online.

To the league's dismay, The Packers released their shareholder report which exposed a few aspects of the entire corporation's income and their leader, the commissioner. Although the league is registered as a non profit organization, they manage to bring in 44 million dollars to Roger Goodell.  according to Ira Boudway of bloomberg.com, Ever since he took his position as the commissioner, the usual income for his position his astronomically increased compared to his predecessors.

Overall, the league brings in roughly an astounding 9.2 billion dollars a year, 6 billion of which is dished out evenly to each franchise. This still leaves behind 3 billion dollars in possession of this so called non profit organization.

This claim saves the league hundreds of millions of dollars by taxes on the league being nowhere near what they should be. By hiding their income, they have easier times paying players less and lobbying for lawmakers to pay for the construction of their new stadiums.

These scams extend to owners hiring themselves to disguising taxable equity as interest on their franchise debt, which is sheltered by taxes. It is clear that every franchise has taken part in hiding their money from tax collectors and the league continues to do the same. The NFL is a corporation that has found its path in manipulating the system to bring themselves the most money, and the fans obsessed with the game like myself continue fueling their greed.

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-09-04/nfls-secretive-finances-a-nearly-10-billion-mystery