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Friday, June 13, 2008

David Stern Will Not Be Happy - Obama Tax Plan Will Cost Pro Sports Teams & Players

Senator Obama has proposed eliminating the earnings ceiling on the social security tax. That means highly-paid pro athletes and their employers will get socked for millions more in social security taxes.

For example, the New York Knicks had a player payroll of almost $90 Million this year. They will pay about 6% of that in added social security taxes if Obama becomes president and his plan is enacted. Therefore, the Knick team owners will pay $5.5 Million more and the Kmicks players will pay about $5.5 Million more. Under social security rules, the employer pays 6.2% of payroll and the employee pays another 6.2%.

So an NBA team and its players with let's say $90 Million in player salaries will pay about $11 Million to Uncle Sam just to cover increased social security taxes under Senator's Obama plan. There are thirty NBA teams so this will cost the NBA about $330 Million per year or more than $3 Billion over ten years! The league has approximately 450 players. Senator Obama's plan will cost the average player (over ten years) $3.6 Million!

This $11 Million figure will be even greater if we tally up the increased social security taxes for highly paid coaches, general managers, etc. Will Senator Obama's tax plan cause inflation? Can you say "higher ticket prices"?

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