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National Football League says it will give up its tax-exempt status

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks to the media before Super Bowl XLIX in Phoenix, Arizona January …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Football League's front office will voluntarily give up its decades-old tax-exempt status, Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Tuesday.

NFL teams pay taxes on their profits but the league's central office has gotten a pass since it is listed a non-profit trade or industry association.

Commissioner Roger Goodell, in a memo to the NFL's 32 teams, said the league's tax status has been "mischaracterized repeatedly in recent years" and is a "distraction.