The revenues from the gate, TV revenues, merchandise sales, etc. are reported as gross income by the teams, not by the NFL as its own corporate entity. NFL, Inc. is really nothing more than the administrative arm of the league, which is why it was: (1) legally allowed to file as a non-profit corporation in the past, and (2) will report no profits even though it is no longer a non-profit corporation.
Okay, here is what I think on the “front office.”
We know Roger Goodell, by himself made $44 million in the fiscal year ending in March 2013 because nonprofits have to report their executive pay to the IRS in a publicly available filing. This led to ridicule, because, jeez, Roger Goodell makes $44 million to run a nonprofit?
By moving into a taxable status the amount the commissioner makes will go under wraps and will not be any of the public’s business. The effects of the tax exempt status of the league office have been mischaracterized repeatedly in recent years. The change in filing status will make no material difference to the business, but as a result, the (NFL’s) Committees decided to eliminate this distraction.
In other words, everyone knows they were making it, and could easily find out how. Now, they can’t. And the amount of taxes being paid by the committees and owners still leaves a monster income.
But I also get the feeling if the big guy gets nailed again in the future, you may, silently, see this exempt status return. They have enough PR headaches in the league without this adding to it and they know it.
rwood