Do you believe that the NFL is a non-profit organization?

You know, like the Red Cross or the March of Dimes.  Since 1966, the IRS lists “business leagues, chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, boards of trade, or professional football leagues.”as 501(c)6 corporations", i.e., non-profits and therefore tax-exempt. 

While the teams that comprise the league are regular, profit-seeking companies, they do receive a lot of money from taxpayers, the largest amount being for stadiums.  One study calculates that league-wide, 70 percent of the capital cost - i.e., cost to build - of NFL stadiums has been provided by taxpayers, not NFL owners.  And in many cases cities, counties, and states also pay the stadiums’ ongoing costs, by providing power, sewer services, other infrastructure, and stadium improvements.  In fact these subsidies can be so large that several teams have turned a profit on stadium subsidies alone—receiving more money from the public than they needed to build their facilities.  On an annual basis these subsidies and tax benefits can add up to perhaps $1 billion. 

Despite the fact that we pay for their stadiums the NFL has been able to charge for  television images made in those publicly funded stadiums and keep the profits.  The TV revenue for this season is $4 billion.