Texas Studies Plan To Tax Pro Players

Playing professional sports in Texas could cost athletes up to $5,000 per game under a state lawmaker’s proposal to raise money for arenas.

State Rep. Kim Brimer, R-Arlington, says he wants to give cities as many options as possible, including taxing the athletes and broadcasters who benefit from public investment in sports palaces.

“We can’t do the income tax bit, but we can sure as heck do a locker fee,” said Brimer, chairman of the House Business and Industry committee.

The state constitution prohibits a state income tax.

The committee began hearing testimony last week on Brimer’s bill to allow local voters to assess an array of taxes to finance sports facilities.

Possible levies include a sales tax boost, a levy on car rentals and hotel rooms, and charges on parking and ticket permits.

In Dallas, the NBA’s Mavericks and the NHL’s Stars are pushing for a stadium to replace Reunion Arena, which has a dearth of luxury boxes.

Stars president Jim Lites said the $5,000 fee per player per game that Brimer suggested Monday would total $100,000 per game.

“You only gross $500,000 on a good night,” he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “You have a 20 percent player tax. The league’ll move out of Dallas before they do that.”

Pros who play at the city-owned Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia owe the same 4.21 percent wage tax as anyone else who earns income in the city, said Kevin Feeley, city spokesman. The $3.2 million collected from visiting players in 1993-96 went into the city’s general fund.