The NFL - Welfare Queens?

[CatMan72]

Link to study please.

 

Here's a link to a mention of the study: 

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/09/07/4295826/panthers-prosper-charlotte-helps.html#.UvKZw_ldXRs

 

It was actually 636 mil, not 700 mil according to the study. 

[Panthro]

What I wanted to get was: I think it's horrible for the NFL to make insane profits with our tax dollars but what worries me the most is the unforseeable reactions the league will take to ensure rising profits.

What do you guys think the NFL will do to maximize profits if they lose their "charity" status?

 

reduce costs

[CatMan72]

It's extremely well established Economics that sports teams and expensive stadiums are a sizable net loss for cities. You're basically spending a dollar to make 20 cents.

 

The Olympics are the worst, of course, but regular sports teams are bad too.

 

I don't know about all that, but how much do you figure the Panthers players and coaching staff pay the state in income taxes each year? 

[intangiblejohnny]

reduce costs

Such as?

[Jackofalltrades]

I'm still curious how a 9 billion dollar revenue business is tax exempt.

[Panthro]

I don't know about all that, but how much do you figure the Panthers players and coaching staff pay the state in income taxes each year? 

 

The state collects money based on the 8 game played here every year. Lets say each team paid out $125 million in salaries (the cap is different then actual salary but for poops and giggles lets run with it) with 2 teams yes you have to pay where you play that is $250M x 7,75% income tax rate is $19m per year...in 2012 total income tax in NC was $10B

 

They account for .02% of the yearly income tax in the state.

[intangiblejohnny]

I don't know about all that, but how much do you figure the Panthers players and coaching staff pay the state in income taxes each year?

It's not about the players and coaches, it's about billionare owners who not only refuse to pay the appropriate taxes on their franchises but have the audacity to TAKE money from their respective cities and states.

[intangiblejohnny]

edit

[Jangler]

Can you imagine the outcry if McDonalds said to (your city) "We want to open a new store, but you build it for us."

[SgtJoo]

I'm still curious how a 9 billion dollar revenue business is tax exempt.

 

Because the individual clubs are taxed, the league itself has very few business profits to tax.

 

"The NFL League Office is a not-for-profit organization. The NFL League Office receives funding from the 32 member clubs to cover its non-revenue overhead activities such as office rent, League Office salaries and game officiating. In addition, the NFL League Office collects revenues on behalf of the 32 member clubs and distributes those revenues to the clubs. All national revenues (e.g. broadcast TV payments) collected and paid to the member clubs, as well as local revenues earned individually by the clubs, are subject to tax at the club level."

 

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9342479/examining-nfl-tax-exempt-status-challenged-us-senator-tom-coburn

[SgtJoo]

Economists have stated emphatically over and over again that building stadiums actually loses taxpayers money. People don't choose to attend games in addition to visiting local restaurants and businesses; they choose to do so in lieu of visiting local businesses. Businesses lose out on money because people are going to the games and the actual return investment is bad for the local economy.

 

 

Taxpayers in Hamilton County, Ohio, which includes Cincinnati, were hit with a bill for $26 million in debt service for the stadiums where the NFL’s Bengals and Major League Baseball’s Reds play, plus another $7 million to cover the direct operating costs for the Bengals’ field. Pro-sports subsidies exceeded the $23.6 million that the county cut from health-and-human-services spending in the current two-year budget (and represent a sizable chunk of the $119 million cut from Hamilton County schools). Press materials distributed by the Bengals declare that the team gives back about $1 million annually to Ohio community groups. Sound generous? That’s about 4 percent of the public subsidy the Bengals receive annually from Ohio taxpayers.

 

 

Taxpayers have, in stages, provided about $1 billion to build and later renovate what is now known as the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. (All monetary figures in this article have been converted to 2013 dollars.) The Saints’ owner, Tom Benson, whose net worth Forbes estimates at $1.2 billion, keeps nearly all revenue from ticket sales, concessions, parking, and broadcast rights. Taxpayers even footed the bill for the addition of leather stadium seats with cup holders to cradle the drinks they are charged for at concession stands. And corporate welfare for the Saints doesn’t stop at stadium construction and renovation costs. Though Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal claims to be an anti-spending conservative, each year the state of Louisiana forcibly extracts up to $6 million from its residents’ pockets and gives the cash to Benson as an “inducement payment”—the actual term used—to keep Benson from developing a wandering eye.

 

 

Many NFL teams have also cut sweetheart deals to avoid taxes. The futuristic new field where the Dallas Cowboys play, with its 80,000 seats, go-go dancers on upper decks, and built-in nightclubs, has been appraised at nearly $1 billion. At the basic property-tax rate of Arlington, Texas, where the stadium is located, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would owe at least $6 million a year in property taxes. Instead he receives no property-tax bill, so Tarrant County taxes the property of average people more than it otherwise would.

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/how-the-nfl-fleeces-taxpayers/309448/

 

 

[csx]

Can you imagine the outcry if McDonalds said to (your city) "We want to open a new store, but you build it for us."

Many communities fight in court to keep McDonalds out. I'm not sure what the comparison is between these situations.

 

The article states that governments lure teams in with incentives. If there is something wrong with that than why don't some politicians with some backbone do something about it? Why is the business owner the bad guy in this situation when the elected leaders are the ones who make this happen? Are we supposed to hold football team owners to higher standards than our elected officials?

[Jangler]

I know McDonalds doesn't do it. But I bet they would if they could. All need to be held accountable fro wasting the tax payers money on every level.

[intangiblejohnny]

Many communities fight in court to keep McDonalds out. I'm not sure what the comparison is between these situations.

The article states that governments lure teams in with incentives. If there is something wrong with that than why don't some politicians with some backbone do something about it? Why is the business owner the bad guy in this situation when the elected leaders are the ones who make this happen? Are we supposed to hold football team owners to higher standards than our elected officials?

It would be much better than holding a standard for nobody.