The United States’ 249th Independence Day proved to be a rather busy one with President Donald Trump signing into law his premier piece of legislation, the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill.’ But while the majority of Americans were preparing poolside feasts and celebrating with fireworks, the owners of the National Football League were celebrating for entirely different reasons.
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According to ProFootballTalk’s founding analyst, Mike Florio, the Commander in Chief’s banging of the gavel could have meant a colossal loss for the NFL. During his latest episode on NFL on NBC, he made sure to give a succinct disclaimer that he is, in no shape or form, a tax specialist, before explaining that,
“The rule that’s on the books allows someone who buys a team to take 100% of the value of the intangible assets, which is mainly player contracts and media contracts, and write them off over the course of 15 years. So, initially, as it was conceived, the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ was going to push that 100% down to zero… A middle ground was reached for the house version, 50%.”
As Florio highlights, that implies a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars for both owners and potentially the league as a whole. After noticing a lack of coverage on the topic following Trump’s signing, Florio discovered that the provision had conveniently fallen out of the Senate’s version of the bill, and that it was never featured in any subsequent conversations.
However, the veteran analyst did suggest that the owners, who were reportedly suspicious of the President’s motivations from the beginning, were likely correct in their assessment.
“When this was first reported on by the New York Times, there were unnamed owners who believed that this was punitive, that this was the President trying to get the owners, and I tend to think they are right.”
For those wondering why exactly would the President of the United States would be trying to “get” the owners of the National Football League, Florio suggests that it stems from a failed bargaining agreement over the Buffalo Bills, in which Trump allegedly claimed he would seek vengeance were he not allowed to become the team’s next owner.
“I recall what Stephen A. Smith said to Jon Stewart… That when the President was trying to buy the Buffalo Bills more than a decade ago, he vowed to Stephen A. Smith, and presumably others, that “If they keep me from doing this, I will run for President and I will get them back.” And they believe that this is part of the effort to get them back.”
While it is unlikely that the President will ever see any questions about those claims, let alone acknowledge or respond to any, Florio’s segment highlights just the latest example of how the National Football League is much more than just a sporting league. Much like the office of the President, it holds a great deal of power and influence.
It may not be as much, but it’s clearly enough to draw the ire of the 47th President of the United States of America.
