Sports and Nonprofits

How can a sports team be a nonprofit organization? This is the question I asked myself when one of my co-workers told me about the Memphis Redbirds and how they were a nonprofit organization. After doing some research, I found out they are the Triple A affiliate for the St. Louis Cardinals and they are completely run by a foundation.

The organization uses the money to revive baseball for inner city children. I am completely fascinated that an organization takes "America's Pastime" and uses it to help promote a very worthy cause. The thing which put it over the edge for me was the fact many of these players will then be sent to the major leagues where they will make millions of dollars for playing baseball. I hope these players carry on the tradition of giving back to the community when they strike it big. (I have many questions on how these players are paid and how the foundation really works but that is for another day.)

After reading about the Redbirds, I wanted to see if there were any other sports teams which are also nonprofits. I found out that the Green Bay Packers are community owned, elect a board of directors and act as a nonprofit but they are not recognized by the IRS as a nonprofit. I also found many community teams (youth leagues, adult leagues, etc.) which are nonprofit organizations. However the one which really caught my attention was the Colorado Vintage Base Ball Association. This is a group of people who get together and play baseball the way the game was played in the late 19th century. Rather than trying to make money, they try and raise awareness about how the game used to be played and show that the game isn't just about money.

While sports teams do give charity to many organizations, I would love to see more nonprofits look at the sporting industry and explore ways to improve our communities through sports. Our society gravitates and lives to watch sporting events. Imagine the potential for your organization to benefit from all this exposure. Bravo to the Memphis Redbirds for continuing to exist as a nonprofit organization and giving back to the community so future generations will continue loving baseball.