Sports Facilities and the Property Tax

Exempting facilities from property taxes is a common method of subsidizing major league sports. This study finds that full and partial exemptions for 62 of the 114 active facilities cost taxpayers $263 million in forgone revenue in fiscal year 2013. Over 30 years, the exemptions are expected to cost the 38 host cities roughly $4.8 billion. It is expected that some franchise owners make alternative payments such as PILOTs, possessory interest taxes, or lease excise taxes, and therefore these forgone revenue estimates only tell part of the property tax story