How much is the NFL Donating to the American Cancer Society?

By Sid Saraf, FOXSports.com

October is the pink month for the NFL. Players, coaches, cheerleaders and even stadiums are adorned with the color to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The league also sells pink merchandise (hats, jerseys, etc.) and donates a portion of the proceeds to the American Cancer Society.

How much of the proceeds? Well, not a whole lot. ESPN’s Darren Rovell is reporting (via Business Insider) that the league takes a “25 percent royalty from the wholesale price (1/2 retail), donates 90 percent of royalty to American Cancer Society.”

So, how much money is that exactly? Here’s the breakdown: If you drop $100 on a pink Seahawks jersey, $12.50 is going to the NFL. Then $76.25 is divided by the company that makes the merchandise and the company that sells it, which is often the league and its individual teams.

So, what’s left for the American Cancer Society? Try $11.25. By the way, the ACS has operating costs of its own, which means that 71.2 percent of the money it receives actually funds cancer research.

In the end, 8.01 percent of pink NFL merchandise sold actually goes to cancer research.

Before people jump all over the NFL for this, the money it is raising is better than donating nothing. The league is also doing a service by promoting breast cancer awareness, which it should be commended for.

However, before you drop some cash on that pink merchandise, you might stop and think. Would you be better served by donating money directly to the American Cancer Society?

Maybe.

But if you’re just looking to add a cute pink top to your gameday ensemble, then rock on. You’ll be doing at least something to help cancer research in the process.

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