Louisiana’s plan to pay university athletes more money? Imposing taxes on sports installation applications

Legislation suspended in front of state governor Jeff Landre will make Louisiana the first state to raise taxes to finance college sports since then The judge agreed to a prominent settlement Allow NCAA schools to pay athletes directly to use their name, photo and similar (nothing). Expecting the approval of the court, Arkansas has become the first of this year to The state income tax is waived On payments, there is nothing for athletes by higher education institutions.

It seems almost more sure of the states of adopting their creative ways to gain an advantage – or at least to keep up with – in the rapidly developed and advanced university sports field.

“These bills, the inevitable spaces, which will follow, said, to make a friendly universities in the United States,” said David Carter, founder of the consulting group in the sports business group and assistant professor at the University of South California. But “they will undoubtedly continue to discuss the” perceived “preferential treatment granted by athletes.

New NCCA rules that allow direct payments for university athletes to kick on July 1. In the first year, each school in the first division can share up to $ 20.5 million with athletes-a number that may be easier to meet for programs with a large time compared to smaller schools that weigh whether it will transfer money from other purposes. The settlement also continues to allow sports athletes Get money nothing From third parties, such as donor -backed groups support certain schools.

Louisiana Bell, the shepherd: “We love football”

Louisiana’s legislation won the final approval just two days after the judge agreed to settle the anti -monopoly between NCAA and athletes, but it had been operating for months. Sports managers met from many Louisiana universities earlier this year, and they collected a plan with legislators to alleviate some of their financial pressure by dividing a share of the state. Sports betting revenue.

The largest question for legislators was the volume of the tax increase to support it. The initial suggestion sought to double the state tax by 15 % on the net revenue from sports online. But the legislators eventually agreed to the tax rate by 21.5 % in a compromise solution with the industry.

A quarter of the tax revenue from the sports betting online-estimated at $ 24.3 million-will be divided equally between 11 public universities in conferences with football programs in the first section. Money should be used “for student athletes”, including scholarships, insurance, medical coverage, facility improving and litigation fees.

State tax funds will not provide direct payments for athletes. But this can be easily facilitated by editing other university resources.

The legislation was issued by an overwhelming majority in the last days of the annual Louisiana session.

“We love football in Louisiana – this is the easiest way to say that,” said Republican Representative Neil Riecer, who sponsored the bill.

The smaller universities feel pressure

Many colleges and universities have felt throughout the country, but they particularly affect sports departments in smaller schools.

Sports departments in the higher conferences in the first section take millions of dollars from the rights of the media, the donors, the sponsors of the companies, and the ticket sales, with only an average of only 7 % of student fees, institutional and government support, according to what he said Knight -NeWhouse College Athletics database.

But the remaining schools in the Football League in the first section received an average of 63 % of revenues from these sources last year. Schools where there were 81 % of their revenues in the sports department of institutional or government support or student fees.

Rice said that the younger universities of Louisiana, in particular, are financially struggling and transferring money from their public funds to their sports programs to try to stay competitive. Meanwhile, the country has acquired millions of dollars from tax revenues from sports betting at least at least at university athletics.

“Without athletes, we will not get revenue. I felt it was fair to return something, and at the same time we help the general funds of universities,” Riecer said.

Other countries are investing in university sport

Louisiana will become the second country behind North Carolina, which devotes part of its sporting revenues that blow on the athletics of colleges. North Carolina state I launched the sports betting online Last year, according to part of the state law tax of 18 % tax on total games revenue for sports departments in 13 public universities. The two largest institutions in the state were excluded. But this may be about to change.

Each of the various budget plans approved by the House of Representatives and the elderly will start this year to allocate the sports beta tax revenue for sports programs at North Carolina University in Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. The Senate version will also double the tax rate. The proposals come a year after the approval of the University of North Carolina Athletic Athletics Division After a preliminary budget expected about $ 100 million of debt in the coming years.

Other schools also take measures due to the deficit in their sports departments. Last week, Kentucky University trustees agreed to an operating loan of $ 31 million to the athletics department as it begins to pay direct payments to the athletes. This came after the trustees voted in April to convert the athletics department in Kentucky into a holding company with limited responsibility- Blue heroes y m – To move more in the emerging financial pressure.

Patrick Rish, Executive Director of the Washington Sports Business Program in Saint -Lewis, said, given the money involved in university athletics, it is not surprising that the states start providing tax funds for sports departments or – as in the Arkansas case – tax relief for university athletes.

“If you can attract better athletes to your schools and states, this is more clear to your states, this is more possible for economic activity outside the city of your countries.” “I think you will see many countries to follow that, because you do not want to be the country that was left open or in a non -favorable position.”