Marquette Sports Law Review Volume 10 Article 15 Issue 2 Spring Financing Professional Sports Facilities with Federal Tax Subsidies: Is it Sound Tax Policy? Scott A. eJ nsen Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw Part of the Entertainment and Sports Law Commons Repository Citation Scott A. eJ nsen, Financing Professional Sports Facilities with Federal Tax Subsidies: Is it Sound Tax Policy?, 10 Marq. Sports L. J. 425 (2000) Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw/vol10/iss2/15 This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. COMMENT FINANCING PROFESSIONAL SPORTS FACILITIES WITH FEDERAL TAX SUBSIDIES: IS IT SOUND TAX POLICY? I. INTRODUCTION In 1997, major league baseball player David Justice earned $6.2 mil- lion from the Cleveland Indians Professional Baseball Club.' The Club also paid slugger Matt Williams over $7 million for his 1997 services.2 That same year the Indians collected over $95 million in total revenues and netted $15.6 million in operating income? In 1994, the Indians moved into Jacobs Field, a new stadium seating over 42,000 people and costing $177 million.4 Like most professional sport franchises, the Indi- ans collected and spent big-time money. Around 1994, Jim Drinksalot was forced to pay an extra $3.00 per gallon for liquor.5 About that same time, Jim's friend, Jane Smokes- toomuch, saw the price of her cigarettes increase by 4.5 cents per pack.6 In addition, around 1994, Bill Bringmeacoldone saw the price for a case of beer increase by thirty-two cents.7 Neither Jim, Jane, nor Bill watches baseball, and all of the price increases on these products were due to new taxes.