COVID-19-related jock tax revenue losses in US states

ABSTRACT

The rise of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus led to the postponement, and possible cancellation, of the remainder of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2019-20 season. Major League Baseball's (MLB) (2020 season) and the National Football League's (NFL) (2020-21) seasons may be cancelled too. This empirical note estimates the loss of jock tax revenue to US states and the District of Columbia as a result of the potential cancellations of the remainder of the NBA and the entire MLB and NFL seasons, respectively. It finds that US states (along with the District of Columbia) stand to lose a combined nearly US$307 million in jock tax collections if the MLB and NFL seasons are cancelled and the suspended NBA regular season games are not made up due to the COVID-19 crisis. To our knowledge, this study provides the first state-by-state calculation of jock tax collections at the state/non-federal jurisdictional level.