Trump has squared off against the NFL before, having owned a team in the upstart United States Football League in the 1980s.
Trump and other owners pushed for a schedule that would have had the USFL play at the same time of year as the NFL. An anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL failed and the new league folded in 1985
The NFL Players Association has defended players’ right to protest.
The NFL was granted nonprofit tax-exempt status in 1942, but gave that up in 2015 amid criticism from members of the U.S. Congress.
The 10-year cost to taxpayers of the NFL exemption was $109 million, according to a 2015 estimate by Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation. The teams are taxable for-profit entities.
The league and most team owners do not disclose financial information. A Sports Business Journal survey this year estimated the NFL’s income for the 2016-17 season at $14 billion.
NFL teams often seek government subsidies and rely on tax-exempt financing when they build stadiums or perform major renovations.
Those projects have cost federal taxpayers $3.7 billion since 2000, according to the Brookings Institution.
Trump has refused to disclose his own tax history, departing from a practice of U.S. presidents going back more than 40 years. Trump has said nobody cares about his tax returns, but critics say they could show conflicts of interest.
Article Appeared @http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nfl-anthem/trump-plays-tax-card-in-fight-over-nfl-anthem-protests-idUSKBN1CF15W