Dan Snyder ‘Needs to Be Removed,’ Says One N.F.L. Owner
Detroit Lions owner and former Michigan State coach Jim Mora is not the first to express concern that Detroit’s N.F.L. team needs to be removed from the city’s tax rolls. Ownership was asked to pay $26,000 in back taxes last year for the team’s tax status, according to the Detroit Free Press. It was first reported by a freelance writer who covered the city for the Detroit News.
Jim Mora: ‘I Need’s to Be Removed’
“You’ve heard me say that,” Mora told the Free Press. “You’ve heard me say I need to be removed. And this is why.”
This is not the first time that Detroit’s N.F.L. team has been brought up as an example of tax evasion on the part of Detroit, where the majority of the city’s residents don’t pay taxes. One of the N.F.L.’s main sponsors has reportedly been fined for failing to pay its taxes.
When Mora’s team was still in the NFL, he told the Associated Press that he would have no problem paying about $6 million in taxes.
“For the record, if that tax came out to less than $6 million, you would consider it a failure,” he said.
The team was purchased by Steve Bisciotti in a land deal that was the subject of a federal criminal investigation.
After that, the team was bought out by the Patriots for another $1.55 billion and is now owned by the Michigan and Cleveland teams. The Detroit Lions played from 1960 to 1998 and have won 10 NFL championships, as well as a Super Bowl in 1982 and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXI.
The Detroit Free Press reported that the Lions played their first game on Dec. 3, 1960. They played in 12 straight season for 17 years before they folded.
They played their final game on Sept. 6, 1998, after filing for bankruptcy just two weeks earlier.
A new proposal has surfaced that would make it easier for former owners of NFL teams to transfer their ownership to the players.