The NFL is a not-for-profit business. Non-profits are businesses. Its a tax classification. That's all it is. The non-profit part really only applies to the owners being able to take capital out of the business. In a for-profit the owners can do that. Nothing wrong with it but you can't do that as a non-profit. You can pay yourself a reasonable salary based on the standards agreed on by the state.

Some for-profits do more good than non-profits. Our culture has a real problem with accepting capitalism as an amoral good for human kind. And I'm not talking about corporatism/fascism we see play out in the US where corporations use political power to rig the system. I'm talking about free markets. The idea that owners of companies can make a profit by providing a service where people voluntarily trade their money for goods or services. The idea that this is somehow bad is a poison we should expel from our culture.

All that said, I know several people that run not for profits and don't do well for themselves. Its not a grift. Its just something that is hard to make into a profitable business so they accept donations that are tax deductible. They can buy goods for their work at prices not possible if they were a for profit.

As with most things this whole scheme only exists because of the state and its theft of capital out of the free market. I have no problem with people using the tax code to avoid theft. That is why these rules are written. The connected people get them added. Its dumb to not use the code that is written to your benefit and the benefit of others. Provided you aren't using force or coercion.