Finance & economics | Ballpark figures

How American states squeeze athletes (and remote workers)

The public loves jock taxes; baseball players do not

A player for the New York Yankees sits in the dugout before a game
Next up: a tax returnPhotograph: Getty Images
|Washington, DC

Sports are big business in America. The country’s four largest professional leagues generate about $45bn in revenues a year, more than half of the total produced by leagues worldwide. That makes for plenty of richly paid stars—and income-generating opportunities for governments. Enter the “jock tax”, an attempt by states and cities to stake a claim to the earnings of visiting athletes.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Ballpark figures”

From the January 27th 2024 edition

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