The senator issued the "Wastebrook 2012′ report which pointed to one hundred ways in which the U.S. Government was wasting money. These included loopholes that allow the NFL to be exempt from federal tax earnings.
Sen. Coburn said that, closing these loopholes which allow such tax breaks for the NFL, would bring in an estimated $91 million for the Treasury. According to NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, each of it's individual teams are in fact taxed because they do make a profit. In his response he pointed out that it is the league's office that is listed as a 'non-for-profit'.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated in 2010, the executive director of the National Football League Players Association, DeMaurice Smith, raised the issue with over 100 reporters at a press conference before the 2011 lockout. He said: "I asked them: 'Raise your hand if you knew the National Football League was a non-profit organization? Silence. It is. It's a 501 C 6 non-profit.'"
