Bill Would Raise Franchise Value of Sports Teams

[HuckleB]

Bill Would Raise Franchise Value of Sports Teams
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/02/sports/02tax.final.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1091462627-UwtdqVdZGsPZc9Nn51dwhg

"Owners of professional sports teams stand to gain tens of millions of dollars in the values of their franchises because of a single sentence buried deep in a sprawling piece of export-tax legislation now before Congress.

The benefit to sports franchises is contained in a small part of an enormous bill introduced originally to settle a trade dispute with the European Union. But the legislation has since become laden with add-ons for interests ranging from tobacco farmers to Oldsmobile dealers.

The bill, which has been approved by both houses, is expected to go before a conference committee to resolve the differences. The final version is expected to be put before both houses in September, when Congress returns from vacation.

The proposed change affecting sports team owners, which has been passed without hearings or debate, would allow the owners to write off the full value of their franchises over 15 years. Existing law generally limits teams to writing off only the value of player contracts over three to five years. The biggest items subject to the expanded write-offs would be television and radio contracts."

----------

Another gift to the wealthy. WTF?

:mad:

[denverbill]

1. I saw this sickening piece in the paper this morning.

Republicans have utterly no shame, no sense of honor or decency anymore.

We've got a $420 billion budget deficit and they are passing out corporate welfare like parade candy.

[havocmom]

2. Voters need to get rid on any local politicians who offer rich franchise

owners tax breaks. They do not need local taxpayers to subsidize their greed, especially when there is not enough money to fund schools, emergency services like fire and police or even local road projects properly.

Corporate welfare is killing us and those at the top are NOT using their tax savings to create well paying jobs which would broaden the tax base.

[hadrons]

3. and its the 'welfare queens' who are bankrupting this nation ....

:eyes:

[HuckleB]

4. No, no. It's those durned people who get sick.

How dare they?

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

5. Turned me off to pro sports...

... over a decade ago. Look how the NFL "new franchise" rules allowed the St Louis Rams to be declared a "new team" and given pay cap breaks. That is just one of the things that has made pro sports a joke and fed the frenzy in the US of "I want it and I want it NOW! I don't want to develop or nurture, I am going to buy my throne and you can't do anything about it!"

[snowFLAKE]

6. Oldsmobile Dealers?

Huh, didn't they stop making that particular form of HorseLess Carriage?

[HuckleB]

7. I wondered about that, too.

Perhaps that's the excuse for the tax break/corporate subsidy they're going to get.