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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; The NFL is under fire for it's \"not-for-profit\" tax status. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The National Football League is under fire from Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma who issued a \"Wastebrook 2012\" report pointing to 100 ways the U.S. government is wasting money including loopholes that allow the league to be exempt from federal tax earnings, according to a report from Ted Barrett of CNN.com:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"Hardworking taxpayers should not be forced to provide funding to offset tax giveaways to lucrative professional sports teams and leagues,\" says the report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sen. Coburn said in his report that closing these loopholes that allow such tax breaks for the NFL would bring in an estimated $91 million for the Treasury. He said certain professional sports leagues should not be listed as trade or association groups.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But NFL spokesman Greg Aiello responded to the remarks by pointing out that while the league office is in fact listed as a \"non-for-profit,\" each of its individual teams are taxed because they do make a profit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Greg Aiello, a spokesman for the NFL, said the league office itself \"is classified as a not-for-profit under the tax code because the league office makes no profit.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a 2010 interview with &lt;em&gt;Sports Illustrated&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;,&lt;/em&gt; DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the National Football League Players Association, said that he raised the issue with over 100 reporters at a press conference before the 2011 lockout: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.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/si-wire/2012/10/18/nfl-non-profit-tax-status-senator>