After decades, NFL decides to give up tax-exempt status

Blumenthal said he would reintroduce legislation calling for a review of antitrust exemptions for the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL.

NFL owners gave the league’s finance committee and management council the authority to change the tax status at league meetings in March, Goodell said.

The NBA does not have tax-exempt status, and Major League Baseball gave its up in 2007.

”The effects of the tax-exempt status of the league office have been mischaracterized repeatedly in recent years,” Goodell wrote to club owners.

Members of Congress have criticized the NFL and other professional sports leagues for withholding money from the government via the tax-exempt status.

Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has introduced legislation to eliminate the section of the IRS code that allows leagues tax-exempt status.