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, Im like most Americans. I like downing a beer and watching a good game every now and again, and Im fine with paying my fair share of taxes for genuine societal necessities. What Im 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 termSports Taxis 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 NFLs 32 teams, counting the expense of building stadiums, forgone real estate taxes, land and infrastructure improvements, and interest costs on public bonds. Thats almost $1 billion every yearand thats just for football, meaning the figure isnt 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/
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)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)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)That's not even counting the tickets...
It's a fucking racket.
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)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.
Mr.Bill
(24,031 posts)was built with no taxpayer dollars. It can be done.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)it just generally isn't done as we know.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)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)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.
malthaussen
(17,024 posts)In Rome, the bread and circuses were free. Amateurs.
-- Mal
antigop
(12,778 posts)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