“One Big Beautiful Bill Act” Advances as Team Owner and College Tax Breaks in Peril

Irwin Kishner, co-chair of Herrick's Sports Law Group and co-chair of Herrick's Corporate Department, spoke with Sportico on the omnibus “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that "takes aim at team owners’ coveted ability to write off most of the purchase price of a sports team, with a clause that would remove billions of dollars from being deducted on taxes."

“The bill itself, vis-a-vis sports teams ownership, isn’t really a great thing,” said Irwin. “You could argue the valuations of sports teams would be less than they were prior to that tax treatment.”

While the bill covers a multitude of spending priorities, it also "takes a hatchet to amortization, which is the depreciation of non-tangible assets often termed goodwill. Typically, 90% or more of a team’s purchase price is goodwill, which excludes physical assets a team might possess, such as its stadium and weight room equipment."

The article notes that the amortization of team values is a tax benefit plays a role in the "skyrocketing prices paid for franchises in recent years."

Tax benefits “are a big part of the calculus” of buying a team, Irwin said. “But it’s still a regulated asset in that supply is less than demand and people have historically done very well owning these franchises.”

Read the full article in Sportico here. Access may require a subscription.