H.R. 296 – PRO Sports Act

AI-Generated Summary

Updated April 15, 2026 at 11:23 AM UTC

The PRO Sports Act changes the Internal Revenue Code so that major professional sports leagues can no longer claim tax‑exempt status under section 501(c)(6). It targets leagues such as the NFL, NHL, PGA Tour and LPGA, and any similar organization with annual gross receipts over $10 million. The changes apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, affecting how these leagues are taxed.

Key Provisions

Amends paragraph (6) of section 501(c) to remove the exemption language for professional football leagues, effectively ending their tax‑exempt status.
Adds a new subsection (s) to section 501 stating that any organization whose primary activity is running professional sports competitions and that has over $10 million in gross receipts cannot be treated as a tax‑exempt organization under subsection (c)(6).
Sets the effective date for both amendments to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.

Legislative Activity

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2 earlier actions

HouseFloor Latest Action

ASSUMING FIRST SPONSORSHIP - Mr. Gaetz asked unanimous consent that he may hereafter be considered as first sponsor of H.R. 296, a bill originally introduced by Representative Chaffetz, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII. Agreed to without objection.

September 26, 2017 • 1:45 PM

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

January 5, 2017

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Ways and Means Committee

January 5, 2017

HouseFloor

ASSUMING FIRST SPONSORSHIP - Mr. Gaetz asked unanimous consent that he may hereafter be considered as first sponsor of H.R. 296, a bill originally introduced by Representative Chaffetz, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII. Agreed to without objection.

September 26, 2017 • 1:45 PM

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about H.R. 296 on the floor

1 Republican

Rep. Matt GaetzR-FL-1 · Sep 26, 2017

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered to be the first sponsor of H.R. 296, a bill originally introduced by Representative Chaffetz of Utah, for the purposes of…

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued January 5, 2017

I

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 296

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 5, 2017

Mr. Chaffetz introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude major professional sports leagues from qualifying as tax-exempt organizations.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Properly Reducing Overexemptions for Sports Act or the PRO Sports Act.

2.

Findings

Congress makes the following findings:

(1)

The National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), PGA Tour, and Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) each have league offices that are registered with the Internal Revenue Service as nonprofit organizations under section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(2)

League-wide operations of the NFL, NHL, PGA Tour, and LPGA together generate over $1 billion in annual revenue, and these businesses are unmistakably organized for profit and to promote their brands.

(3)

Separate from their subsidiaries, the nonprofit league offices of the NFL, NHL, PGA Tour, and LPGA had annual gross receipts of $326.9 million, $41.1 million, $1.5 billion, and $89.1 million in 2010, respectively, for a combined total of over $1.9 billion, according to each organization’s publicly available Form 990 filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

(4)

According to the Internal Revenue Service, section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is for groups looking to promote a common business interest and not to engage in a regular business of a kind ordinarily carried on for profit.

(5)

According to the Internal Revenue Service, businesses that conduct operations for profit on a cooperative basis should not qualify for tax-exempt treatment under section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

3.

Elimination of specific exemption for professional football leagues

(a)

In general

Paragraph (6) of section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—

(1)

by striking , or professional football leagues (whether or not administering a pension fund for football players), and

(2)

by inserting or after real-estate boards,.

(b)

Effective date

The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.

4.

Special rules relating to professional sports leagues

(a)

In general

Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—

(1)

by redesignating subsection (s) as subsection (t), and

(2)

by inserting after subsection (r) the following new subsection:

(s)

Special rules relating to professional sports leagues

No organization or entity shall be treated as described in subsection (c)(6) if such organization or entity—

(1)

is a professional sports league, organization, or association, a substantial activity of which is to foster national or international professional sports competitions (including by managing league business affairs, officiating or providing referees, coordinating schedules, managing sponsorships or broadcast sales, operating loan programs for competition facilities, or overseeing player conduct), and

(2)

has annual gross receipts in excess of $10,000,000.

.

(b)

Effective date

The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.