WASHINGTON, DC – Senators James Lankford, R-Oklahoma,  introduced the Eliminating Federal Tax Subsidies for Stadiums Act, a bill to end generous federal subsidies for professional sports stadiums.

The bill would close a loophole in the tax code that allows professional sports teams to finance new stadiums with municipal bonds that are exempt from federal taxes. Congressman Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, is leading the bipartisan companion bill in the House of Representatives.

Municipal bonds are intended to give communities a way to finance projects, such as hospitals, schools, and roads, without needing to pay federal taxes on the debt’s interest. Using municipal bonds to finance sports stadiums diverts money away from these critical local infrastructure projects.

“Oklahomans should not be responsible for subsidizing the construction of professional sports stadiums in New York and New Yorkers should not be responsible for subsidizing sports stadiums in Oklahoma,” said Lankford. “Using billions of federal taxpayer dollars to build private stadiums when we have real infrastructure needs in our country is not a good way to prioritize a limited amount of funds.”

“The last thing billionaire sports franchise owners need is the federal government subsidizing the cost of their stadiums,” said Blumenauer. “Stadiums rarely produce the economic gains initially promised and drive poor land use decisions while bleeding municipal budgets dry and shortchanging critical programs for working families. We can do better.”

The bill would end federal subsidies for stadium financing, but would not prevent localities and states from bidding and offering economic incentives to teams.

 In eliminating this wasteful expenditure, the bill also unties the hands of local governments to finance their stadium subsidies with taxes on tickets and in-stadium purchases—allowing states to target taxes on the people who actually use and benefit from the subsidy. Current tax law does not allow local governments to finance federal stadium subsidies by levying taxes on stadium purchases.