NFL: America's Taxpayer-financed Religion?

Minnesota Vikings Home: Cathedral or Stadium?

After last week  examining the ways in which government in the US subsidizes religion, this week let's examine one of our most prosperous "religions." It raises more than 10 billion dollars a year and cajoles governments to provide billion-dollar "cathedrals" which remain empty most of the time. It then demands that local government retrofit these places of worship with "altars" which cost $10 million. Its "high priest," Roger Goodell,  has an annual salary of at least $44 million.

That's right. I'm speaking of the National Football League which celebrates it's highest holy day Sunday with Super Bowl XLIX. (Don't you love the pretension of using Roman Numerals?)

Like most Americans, I love football, and the NFL has done a great job of marketing its product. So if the league, its executives, the team owners, coaches and players are making tons of money, what's the problem?

There are two problems: 1) the NFL is permitted to operate as a monopoly, but more importantly 2) it is tax exempt.

Roger Goodell

 Perhaps we can ignore the monopoly issue since the government permits many other entities to function as monopolies. But the tax exempt status makes no sense. It is impossible to consider the NFL as a charity that takes in donations, yet it is classified as a 501 (c) (6), the same as churches and social justice agencies which give back to the community. However, Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner with his $44 million plus salary, has the audacity, invoking the first amendment, to explain it this way: 

“Football is a sacred sport in here. It’s a religion. People have dedicated a lot of time and money to make this work for all the fans. The fans who worship the game, the players, and treat the stadiums like houses of worship. I mean, look at the Vikings' new stadium plans, the place looks like a church… because it is. And that’s why we must continue to receive tax exempt status. It’s against the first amendment to tell people they are wrong regarding who they worship, and football fans worship football. The coaches are our church leaders and pastors, the owners and management are our trustees and deacons, and the ushers are, well, the ushers.” (Free Wood Press)

Please, Roger. The NFL is all about making a profit and trying to protect its image. For years it has tried to cover up the problem of domestic violence, the long-range effects of players' concussions, HGH abuse, and paying cheerleaders $2.85 an hour (amount Cincinnati owner Paul Brown paid Alexa Brenneman). Hardly the approach of a caring religious institution.

And then there is the issue of  billions of taxpayer dollars being used to build  NFL stadiums. In Arlington, Texas, when the Dallas Cowboys owner wanted to build a new $1.2 billion "cathedral," he asked  the local tax payers to cough up $325 million. In addition, the  taxpayers are expected to pay 70% of the maintenance and upkeep. Of course, the owner, Jerry Jones, keeps all the profits.

"The worst stadium financing deal ever..." according to The Wall Street Journal  occurred in Cincinnati. In the mid 1990's, Paul Brown, the Bengal owner, threatened to move the team unless Hamilton County built and financed a football-only stadium. Hamilton county by itself, with no help from surrounding counties in Ohio and Kentucky, built the stadium and named it after the extortionistic owner. While the Bengals rake in the profits, the county maintains the stadium. In 2011 (10 years later) the stadium costs made up 16.4% of the county budget. (Business Insider,7/12/11) One local official called the stadium "the monster that ate the public sector." Meanwhile, the residents of Hamilton County pay an extra 1/2 cent sales tax to finance Paul Brown's cathedral

And that's not the end. In a game of mine-is-bigger-than-yours, Paul Brown wants a a $10 million stadium scoreboard for next season, and of course wants the county to pay $7.5 million of the cost. Hamilton County agreed. Talk about welfare for the wealthy!

 Louisiana, with a conservative GOP governor, Bobby Jindal,  pays the owner of the Saints up to $6 million of tax payers' money a year  as an "inducement payment" to keep the owner, Tom Benson,  from thinking about moving the team out of the state.

In Seattle, the Seahawks' CenturyLink Field was built in 2002 at a cost of $560 million of which the residents of Washington paid $360 million. Paul Allen, the owner and one of the world's richest people, pays the state $1 million a year rent and in return he keeps all profits, estimated to be in excess of $200 million - not a bad deal, if you can get it



Since Goodell thinks his stadiums are churches, it might be interesting to compare the two. Most churches are used every day of the week, or at least every Sunday.  Most stadiums have eight or fewer NFL games a year. If public schools operated on the same basis, there would be a public outcry, but we are all too willing to give the NFL a free pass.

After all, the NFL is America's religion,  and tonight when two of America's most disliked teams, the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, play in Super Bowl  XLIX, I will be there in the pew in front of my television to watch the 11 minutes of actual football plays in a 60 minute game which will require 5 hours of my time. Unfortunately, if I had lived in ancient Rome, I suspect I would have gone to the coliseum to watch the gladiators.

(If you wish to verify the above, the most comprehensive source is: "How the NFL Fleeces Taxpayers," The Atlantic, October 2013.) 


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