Of course, the NFL already is largely socialist in design. Profit sharing, worse records yield high draft picks, millionaire union members, begging for the government to pay for their stadiums, etc.
Indeed. I think they should lose their tax-exempt status. Then again, football is in fact many people’s religion.
The principles of free-market economics break down completely in sports because a sports league can't exist if a sizeable number of its teams are going out of business. So a sports league like the NFL must walk a fine line between competition on the field and financial equality off the field.
Personally, I think the NFL goes way overboard when it comes to equality, to the point that is has practically legislated equality into its operations. Nowadays, an NFL team doesn't have to do much to build a competitive team. Between the salary cap, non-guaranteed contracts, and draft rules, you're almost at the point where a team just has to sit around and wait for its turn to be a Super Bowl contender.