NFL Foundation: Sports, Social Change, and Tax-Exempt Status

Introduction: Sports as a Platform for Social Change

Over the last several years, social change has become a phenomenon in which sports organizations reach out to stakeholders to create positive impacts. Sports are increasingly used to highlight important social issues and to serve as a platform for addressing them. A good example of this is captured by Stulberg (2014), who observed, "Sports have always been about more than just winning. They have always been central to our culture, they have always been battlegrounds on the road to social progress." (Stulberg)

Regardless of the specific issues involved, sports provide individuals with a way to invite significant social transformations by questioning existing attitudes. For instance, when African Americans broke the color barrier, it created new attitudes in the way people perceived one another. These shifts invited changes in society, with more people demanding equality for everyone. Sports became a visible stage for inviting those changes. (Stulberg)

In the National Football League (NFL), the league has positioned itself at the forefront of endorsing progressive social views. Most recently, Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins revealed that he would support an openly gay teammate, saying: "There are a lot of teammates in my locker room right now who may not have a homosexual lifestyle, but they have sins, too. They're not perfect. So I don't say they can't help us win. Nobody's perfect. To that degree, we'd welcome him into our locker room and say come help us win, and hopefully I can love him like Jesus and hopefully show him what it means to follow Jesus." ("Kirk Cousins of Washington Redskins Says He'd Welcome Gay Teammate: Nobody's Perfect")

This illustrates how sports are changing the national debate on various social issues. Part of the reason is that many sports stars are regarded as heroes and closely followed by the general public. Their attitudes influence the way fans approach a variety of social questions over time. Views like those expressed by Cousins have become more widely accepted partly because of the platform athletes command.

At the same time, the NFL is involved in various programs that help bridge differences and encourage philanthropy and community service. These initiatives invite changes that will have a positive influence on stakeholders over the long term. One of the best examples is the NFL Foundation, whose basic objective is to reach out to communities through a range of programs that encourage social responsibility. ("Community")

To fully understand how this occurs requires examining how the NFL Foundation invites social change. This will be accomplished by looking at its ongoing activities, how it exploits the competitive nature of sports, and the way that exploitation enables it to achieve larger social goals. Together, these elements highlight how the organization is creating lasting social changes across generational demographics — and the effects those changes are having on the league's profit margins.

The Ongoing Activities of the NFL Foundation

The NFL Foundation concentrates on making a difference in the community by encouraging children to participate in various physical activities. As the Foundation itself states: "The NFL Foundation works with the League, its 32 Clubs and players to give back to the communities where our game is played. Through our work with the American Heart Association and The Cooper Institute, we support the NFL Play 60 campaign — to encourage kids to be active every day for 60 minutes. Initiatives such as the NFL Play 60 Challenge and the NFL Play 60 Program are integral parts of PLAY 60, and promote physical activity and healthy environments for children in their schools and homes. We want as many children as possible to Play 60, which is why the NFL Foundation provides grants to its 32 Clubs to support activities in their areas that encourage kids to be physically active." ("Community")

This illustrates how the Foundation aims to give something back to communities by encouraging children to engage in various forms of physical activity. At the same time, the NFL Foundation is actively involved in helping host cities by making large donations of $1 million in legacy grants to cities hosting the Super Bowl. The basic idea is to encourage those cities to address specific challenges affecting children. In many cases, the Foundation assists communities in purchasing technology and multimedia labs, refurbishing classroom and recreational facilities, and building physical fitness zones.

As the Foundation explains: "Since 1992, the NFL has provided Super Bowl host cities with a $1 million Legacy Grant to help support underserved youngsters in the local community. Such funding helped to create 13 Youth Education Towns (YETs) in underserved areas of host Super Bowl communities. Youth Education Town facilities and programs vary, as do the number of children they serve. However, most of these youth enrichment centers include interactive fitness equipment, classrooms, technology and multimedia labs, physical fitness zones, athletic and recreation fields, and other resources. In some locations, YETs offer full-day school programs as well as after-school services. The NFL Foundation also provides programs and grants to help YETs keep their youngsters active and healthy." ("Community")

These insights show how the Foundation is focused on reaching out to at-risk youth by addressing critical challenges in inner-city neighborhoods through targeted grants.

Moreover, the Foundation works with other charities to address issues and draw attention to key problems. Every October, for example, it partners with the American Cancer Society to underscore the importance of cancer research and screening. As the Foundation notes: "In partnership with the American Cancer Society we strive to make a positive impact in the fight against breast cancer through 'A Crucial Catch.' The campaign focuses on raising awareness of the importance of screening among our fans. Every October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the 32 NFL clubs do their part to raise awareness of breast cancer screenings supported by grants from the NFL Foundation." ("Community")

As a result, the NFL uses its status and notoriety to highlight the importance of physical fitness, address specific challenges impacting inner-city communities, and partner with other nonprofits on mission-critical issues. These activities enable the league to highlight key social concerns and offer additional support in addressing them. In the future, this positions sports as a powerful platform for introducing meaningful social changes. ("Community")

Conclusion

Clearly, the NFL Foundation is being used to promote charitable activities. This is demonstrated by the way its platform and the earnings from various events can create shifts in attitudes on important social issues. However, a major challenge is that the league maintains a tax-exempt status while realizing dramatic increases in earnings. The result is that only a small amount of this money actually goes toward supporting charitable activities. Instead, the Foundation appears to function as an avenue for improving the league's long-term revenues.

These issues make the league's charitable activities appear to be, at least in part, a vehicle for achieving financial objectives rather than purely social ones. This is especially problematic given that both Major League Baseball and the NBA abandoned similar tax-exempt arrangements years ago. In the future, there is a real possibility that the NFL could lose its tax exemption if it continues to use its charitable foundation primarily to increase its profits.