GOP Bill Slashes Tax Break for NFL & With Tax Breaks on the Line, Roger Goodell Re-Discovers His Patriotism

The GOP tax plan unveiled Thursday by Republican members of the House reportedly contains a provision that would prevent professional sports teams, including the NFL, from taking advantage of tax-exempt municipal bonds, a government service usually reserved for local communities.

“Generally used for roads, hospitals and the like, a number of communities have extended them to help out sports teams, usually as a way of enticing a team to stay in a community,” The Washington Times reported. “Axing the break would save $200 million over the next decade, according to early estimates.”

As reported by Reuters, “(o)f the 16 NFL stadiums built or renovated from 2000 through 2014, 13 were financed in part by tax-exempt bonds with an average financing worth $360.2 million.” The total costs of these bonds was an estimated $3.7 billion.