Super Bowl XLVIII, to be held February 2, 2014 at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey, needs volunteers to help put on the NFL's annual extravaganza.
A website calls for volunteers to donate their time, money and effort to help out the poor struggling NFL put on this show.
What's in it for volunteers?
So you get to spend your money to get to your volunteer site, your time, and you get a uniform to keep and a 'good feeling' of helping out. Why does this organization need any 'helping out'? (Oh and let's not forget the 'standard background check' that all successful volunteers must pass).
The NFL estimated revenue for 2012 is 9.5 billion dollars, dwarfing all other major sports. It is not exactly hurting for cash. The network that televised it made $245 million in advertising revenue, in about 4 hours. The network commissioner, Roger Goodell, earned $29.5 million dollars in 2012. And the reason his salary is public is because the NFL as a 'non-profit' organization must disclose it on their tax return. Which also means, they pay no federal taxes.
No and no. Turns out, the multi-billion dollar money-making machine that is the NFL is, in the eyes of the government, a nonprofit organization. Thanks to an exemption written into the tax code, the league is exempt from federal corporate taxes.
Sounds like they're a 'taker', to me. Lazy 47%'ers!
For the Super Bowl, the NFL is looking for 15,000 volunteers to work a minimum of 2 or 3 four hour shifts. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? New Jersey has one of the highest unemployment rates at 9.5% (as of December 2012). If they were to pay each one of these 'volunteers' $10 per hour, far above the national minimum wage, it would cost them about $1.2 millioin dollars - not even 5% of Roger's salary, and a drop in the bucket for either the broadcast network or the NFL.
But those poor schmucks who will volunteer get to 'feel good' that they put a good face on New York/New Jersey.
I so hope potential volunteers will consider a boycott and the NFL has to shell out actual money to get people to work for them. Unfortunately at least according to the Star Ledger people are already signing up out of a 'sense of pride'. The volunteer tradition goes back many years according to the paper and the game depends on them. Of course, one can get paid and feel the same pride. One would think.