Opinion: Time to Reconsider Charity Status for Big-Time Sports

The Fiesta Bowl scandal raises question about whether multimillion-dollar sporting events should be allowed to operate as tax-exempt charities, a veteran sports journalist and blogger writes in an ESPN commentary.

The college-football game, which operates as a charity, fired its top official last month after an internal investigation alleged the organization’s leaders had pressed employees to make political contributions and awarded themselves high salaries and lavish perks.

In his article, Roy S. Johnson notes that the report also found the Fiesta Bowl made “only nominal charitable donations” to nonprofit organizations other than the colleges that participate in the games.

While some major sports organizations such as golf’s PGA tour go much further in fulfilling their charitable mission, Mr. Johnson writes, “At minimum, [the Fiesta Bowl affair] calls into question whether bowls and some other sports entities should be allowed to avoid taxes when they’re spending money like drunken frat boys with trust funds.”