In an article on Wednesday’s (10/8) Huffington Post, mezzo-soprano Suzanne Mentzer writes, “Last week the New York City Opera declared bankruptcy and the Minnesota Orchestra failed to come to an agreement over a contract that has been expired for a year. Gee, the non-profit model certainly seems to work just great for the National Football League. I was stunned to learn that despite the fact that it is a $9 billion a year industry, the NFL commissioner and owners continue to enjoy status as a non-profit organization. Congress slipped language designating ‘professional football’ organizations as nonprofits into an unrelated 1966 bill.… Ever since, the league has been enriched via the single most egregious example of Sports Welfare—the billions of dollars in local, state and federal subsidies for the private sports industry.… As a mere observer I am not privy to the inner workings of the NYC Opera or the Minnesota Orchestra. However, the bizarre logic of our congress allowing the NFL to not carry its weight while arts groups are gasping for air is insulting.… The NFL definitely seems to be onto something. Maybe it needs to teach the classical world a thing or two.”
Posted October 9, 2013
Minnesota Vikings photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images North America
