John,

The NFL season is only in its second week, but fans have already seen the price hikes. Tickets are more expensive. Concessions cost more. Streaming every game now requires juggling a half-dozen expensive subscriptions. It is harder and more expensive than ever to simply enjoy the sport. And it is not by accident.

Our new report shows that NFL owners are using their political power to rig the system in their favor.[1] Each owner is now pocketing an average of $286,000 a year in tax cuts from the Trump tax law. The same law delivers them millions more through estate tax loopholes. While fans are getting squeezed, owners are collecting tax-funded windfalls that they secured through their wealth and power.

These aren’t struggling businesses. These are billionaires who own teams valued in the billions. The average NFL owner is worth over $10 billion. Yet they are paying a lower tax rate than many of their players and far less than the fans who fill their stadiums. This is what happens when the tax code is written by and for the ultra-rich.

These billionaire owners fund politicians, shape policy, and benefit from laws written to enrich people like them. The result is clear. Fans pay more. Owners pay less. And the people who make the game what it is are treated like a revenue stream, not a community.

Send a message to Commissioner Roger Goodell right now. Demand that the NFL stop putting billionaire owners’ profits over fans.

There is only one team in the entire NFL that is not owned by a billionaire or a billionaire family. That team is the Green Bay Packers, publicly owned by over half a million fans. They are proof that the league does not need to serve the wealthy to succeed. It can belong to the people who support it.

Fans are not just customers. They are the ones who make the NFL possible. They buy the tickets, the jerseys, the subscriptions. They bring their families to the games and fill the stadiums with energy. Without fans, there is no product. Yet the league continues to prioritize short-term profits over the long-term trust and respect of the people who keep it alive.

Commissioner Goodell has the power to lead. He can demand transparency. He can hold owners accountable. He can stand up for fans. But so far, he has protected the billionaires who benefit most from this rigged system. That is unacceptable. It is time for him to hear from the people the league is supposed to serve.

Billionaire owners should not be allowed to raise prices on fans while cutting backroom tax deals to line their own pockets. The Commissioner has a responsibility to act.

Tell Commissioner Goodell to stop treating fans as a revenue stream and demand that teams put fans over owners' profits.

Let’s make it clear the league belongs to the fans, not the billionaires.

David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund