Should college sports be taxed?

[bags27]

Since Congress just saw fit to tax endowments of a few exceptionally wealthy schools that go primary to academics, it is an interesting question whether they should also (or even more so) tax sports revenue:

Opinion | The College Sports Tax Dodge

There are no plans to start taxing television revenue and corporate sponsorships, two of the biggest income streams, which together transformed intercollegiate athletics into a multibillion-dollar business. Even with the legislative changes, collegiate sports remain largely tax exempt, the beneficiary of a public subsidy that is increasingly difficult to defend.

The corrosive culture of money in big-time college sports — more than $8 billion a year among the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I sports programs — was painfully obvious recently with the indictments of college coaches and an Adidas executive charged with paying bribes to recruit basketball players and steer them to agents.

 

[LasVegasYank]

It's obviously a business and the business tax rate should apply.

 

[VAMike23]

Since Congress just saw fit to tax endowments of a few exceptionally wealthy schools that go primary to academics, it is an interesting question whether they should also (or even more so) tax sports revenue:

Opinion | The College Sports Tax Dodge

There are no plans to start taxing television revenue and corporate sponsorships, two of the biggest income streams, which together transformed intercollegiate athletics into a multibillion-dollar business. Even with the legislative changes, collegiate sports remain largely tax exempt, the beneficiary of a public subsidy that is increasingly difficult to defend.

The corrosive culture of money in big-time college sports — more than $8 billion a year among the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I sports programs — was painfully obvious recently with the indictments of college coaches and an Adidas executive charged with paying bribes to recruit basketball players and steer them to agents.

I did not realize that athletics revenues were given a pass in this way. I had assumed that they were subject to UBIT. Highly doubtful that Congress will change this , but who knows.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Since Congress just saw fit to tax endowments of a few exceptionally wealthy schools that go primary to academics, it is an interesting question whether they should also (or even more so) tax sports revenue:

Opinion | The College Sports Tax Dodge

There are no plans to start taxing television revenue and corporate sponsorships, two of the biggest income streams, which together transformed intercollegiate athletics into a multibillion-dollar business. Even with the legislative changes, collegiate sports remain largely tax exempt, the beneficiary of a public subsidy that is increasingly difficult to defend.

The corrosive culture of money in big-time college sports — more than $8 billion a year among the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I sports programs — was painfully obvious recently with the indictments of college coaches and an Adidas executive charged with paying bribes to recruit basketball players and steer them to agents.

Who pays ANY Tax ? The users, that's usually ME. However it wouldn't bother me one bit if the NCAA was taxed out of business.
I thought the NCAA ruled that if Pitino et al offered hookers to all the student body it was ok then for Athletes. I did think it would have been better to offer the 100,000 to each student. Or something along that line!
I don't think anyone wants to tell ESPN about the BIG bucks they are making on sports.

 

[Roger G]

They are a business, a big business, and should be appropriately taxed. Like some others here, I also was unaware of this loophole.