Franken Would End NFL's Tax-Exempt Status
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., would kill the National Football League’s tax-exempt status, he said Sunday during a Senate campaign debate. Franken is facing Republican Mike McFadden in a re-election campaign and has maintained a strong lead, with the Rothenberg Political…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Report judging his seat Democrat favored. “I would revoke" the NFL’s tax-exempt status, said Franken, chairman of the Judiciary Privacy Subcommittee. When told there was congressional legislation proposing to revoke the exemption, Franken said, “Then I will support that.” Franken doesn't currently co-sponsor any legislation removing the exemption. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz., have pushed for such legislation and framed removing the NFL's antitrust exemption as the ultimate answer to incidents of sports blackouts, which they say remain a policy concern beyond the FCC’s vote in September to end its sports blackout rule. The NFL has resisted these policy changes. “It’s something I will look into,” McFadden said. “I’ve never been asked that question on the trail before.”