The United States Congress introduced a House bill that would strip the NFL of its tax-exempt status if Washington’s franchise continues to operate with “Redskins” as its team name, according to ABC News.
Congress threatens NFL’s tax-exempt status unless Redskins change name
Congress wants to attack the NFL’s wallet in order to force Washington to drop its team name.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The NFL receives tax-exempt status because it is considered a "trade organization" where technically it receives the revenue the league generates, then distributes it to the teams in the form of dues. The status allows the league to avoid paying taxes, although the individual teams do. The NFL's tax-exempt status has been a contentious issue for some time, but the newly introduced bill has a different objective. Instead of being focused on stripping the NFL's current status, the bill cosponsored by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton is designed to pressure the league into forcing Washington to change its nickname.
“The NFL greed is so widespread that they’ve chosen to operate as a tax-exempt organization. So we want to take that choice away from them unless, and until, they decide not to profit from a name that has now officially been declared a racial slur,” said Norton, a Democratic non-voting House member who represents the District of Columbia
While stripping the NFL of its tax-exempt status represents the strongest push Congress has made to force the league and Washington to drop the nickname, some believe it may have little impact. In a piece for Grantland, Bill Barnwell wrote that should the NFL lose its not-for-profit standing, it would simply “pursue different tax structures and recodify the way it distributes money to remove tax liabilities, which could eliminate a good chunk of the revenue the NFL might otherwise send to the federal government.” As Barnwell points out, both Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association dropped their not-for-profit status because it didn’t save them much money while forcing the leagues to reveal, “potentially embarrassing executive salary information.”
Opposition to Washington’s nickname has grown significantly in recent years. The Oneida Indian Nation launched its Change the Mascot campaign in an attempt to help sway public opinion. The team has fought back by arguing that many Native Americans are proud of the name, highlighted by an article on Chief Stephen Dodson and his fervent support of the mascot. That piece came under heavy fire after Deadspin revealed Dodson as a fake. Additionally, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied registration for the name due to its disparaging nature, a decision the team is currently fighting in court.
Despite the protests, owner Daniel Snyder has vowed to “never change the name of the team.”
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