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…
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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.”