Taxing Sports
66 Pages Posted: 16 Sep 2021 Last revised: 3 Jul 2022
Date Written: September 14, 2021
Abstract
Sports are no longer mere games. In today’s money-driven culture, they have cultivated into a lucrative business enterprise where everyone – whether professional or amateur; owner or player; coach or spectator – stands to make significant money. Modern sports have also morphed into a landscape encompassing both traditional athletic events, and the more novel esports and daily fantasy sports (DFS) arenas. Across all of these physical, digital, and biological spheres, sports revenues are being measured in terms of billions. It thus stands to reason why taxes have become a progressively critical discussion point within U.S. professional and collegiate sports, the videogaming world, and the newly-legalized sports gambling industry. This article is the first to provide a holistic and modern analysis of the impact of U.S. tax law across the contemporary business of sports, and to explore a more universal approach to the varying tax issues affecting numerous relevant stakeholders, including franchises, business ventures, universities, athletes, individuals, and federal and state taxing jurisdictions.
Keywords: Tax, sports, gambling, college sports, tax cuts, esports, daily fantasy sports, DFS, professional sports
JEL Classification: K34, H25, H26, K22, K42, M14
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation