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marmar

(76,945 posts)
Fri Feb 8, 2013, 07:28 PM Feb 2013

David Sirota: The Sports Tax


from truthdig:



The Sports Tax

Posted on Feb 8, 2013
By David Sirota


When it comes to sports and taxes, I’m like most Americans. I like downing a beer and watching a good game every now and again, and I’m fine with paying my fair share of taxes for genuine societal necessities. What I’m not OK with is paying a skyrocketing Sports Tax at a time of burgeoning deficits, reduced household income and serious cutbacks to social safety net programs.

That term—Sports Tax—is not hyperbolic. In a week that saw Louisiana fork over $5 million to the NFL for the privilege of helping that league make big Super Bowl money, Sports Tax is the most accurate catch-all label for the four sets of levies the public is being made to shell out.

The first Sports Tax comes from the higher taxes we all pay in order to fund direct handouts. Just as NFL owners convinced Louisiana politicians to give them that $5 million taxpayer subsidy, similar collusions between team owners and lawmakers have been forcing taxpayers everywhere to do much the same. In all, Bloomberg Businessweek reports that “taxpayers have committed $18.6 billion since 1992 to subsidies for the NFL’s 32 teams, counting the expense of building stadiums, forgone real estate taxes, land and infrastructure improvements, and interest costs on public bonds.” That’s almost $1 billion every year—and that’s just for football, meaning the figure isn’t even counting similar handouts for other leagues.

The second Sports Tax comes in the form of a rigged tax code, which effectively compels honest taxpayers to bankroll professional teams. As Republican Sen. Tom Coburn detailed in a report last year, the NFL, NHL, PGA (among others) use special provisions in that code “to exempt themselves from federal income taxes on earnings.” The report concluded that because of this, “Taxpayers may be losing at least $91 million subsidizing these tax loopholes for professional sports leagues that generate billions of dollars annually in profits.” ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_sports_tax_20130208/



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Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
1. K&R
Fri Feb 8, 2013, 07:59 PM
Feb 2013

Looks like St. Louis will be losing the Rams within the next few years as they cannot come up with the money to build the team their new & improved stadium as the city & state are still paying off the bonds for the current one and in the Rams opinion, it's just not up to snuff any more.

WCGreen

(45,558 posts)
2. I really enjoy sports but I am so sick and tired of paying for the venue these owners use
Fri Feb 8, 2013, 08:03 PM
Feb 2013

as bargaining tools by threatening to move.

We have a $250 million dollar stadium which the Browns use 12 days a year, a few country music shows swoop in and that's about it. The Indians have their Ball Park, the Cavs have their own Arena and yet we can't find enough money to fund our schools....



Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
4. If you feel that way & you enjoy sports
Fri Feb 8, 2013, 08:17 PM
Feb 2013

think of how those of us who find professional sports to be boring feel about the situation.

I personally never wanted the Rams to come to St. Louis and certainly, never wanted to help pay for them to do so.

Pro Sports is part of the entertainment industry and I get that people enjoy different forms of entertainment. Good for everyone, I just think that the teams should pay their own way.

WCGreen

(45,558 posts)
5. Especially with the money they make from Broadcasts and all the other crap they sell...
Fri Feb 8, 2013, 08:41 PM
Feb 2013

That's not even counting the tickets...

It's a fucking racket.

bluestateguy

(44,173 posts)
3. I have always opposed subsidies and tax treats for sports stadiums
Fri Feb 8, 2013, 08:04 PM
Feb 2013

The teams promise major economic benefits, but all they really generate is a bunch more minimum wage jobs or support for existing minimum wage jobs. And stadiums generate traffic, which actually hurts economic growth.

It also greatly annoys me when teams get subsidies for new stadiums, and then the ticket prices are still very expensive. So then you have lower income taxpayers paying for stadiums that they won't be enjoy as a spectator because the tickets are too expensive.

Brigid

(17,621 posts)
7. Last I heard,
Fri Feb 8, 2013, 09:16 PM
Feb 2013

We're still paying off Market Square Arena here -- and that was demolished well over a decade ago. What the status is on the Bankers Life and Lucas Oil venues, I don't know. But taxpayers should never have to fund these extravagances. Let these rich team owners pay for them. If they move because taxpayers won't do it in a given city, they move. Who cares?

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
8. Dont forget the "build use a new stadium or we move" dance. Seattle is currently
Sat Feb 9, 2013, 12:58 AM
Feb 2013

participating for a basketball team. The teams play one city against another to see whose got the most gullible taxpayers. In Seattle the Mariners promised to pay the cost overruns for a new stadium. Bingo-bango when overruns happened guess who fought it in court?

The general public are rubes. Easily fleeced by pro sports owners. That's how Georgie Bush made his first millions.

antigop

(12,778 posts)
11. David Cay Johnston video:on pro sports subsidies
Sat Feb 9, 2013, 11:31 AM
Feb 2013
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgk4ez_david-cay-johnston-on-pro-sports-subsidies_news#.URZqQqPNm6I

David Cay Johnston wrote Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and StickYou with the Bill)

and

The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use "Plain English" to Rob You Blind
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