NBA

Situation:

The Minnesota Legislature was threatening to create a new 14.5% sales tax on “sports memorabilia.” The tax was so broadly defined that it would have included any licensed sports product – college and professional. This would have significantly affected Minnesota Timberwolves merchandise sales.

Resolution:

PAC understood that it would be hard to make the case that the National Basketball Association and other pro sports franchises could afford the additional tax, after all the some of the money was going to pay for a new professional baseball stadium. Our solution was to identify specific Minnesota businesses that would be negatively impacted by this tax. We were able to find and engage two major manufacturers of “sports memorabilia” (as defined in the bill), wholesalers of licensed youth sports apparel, and small sporting goods stores in border towns that would have been hit hard by the tax burden. We engaged these supporters along with all of the major sports leagues in a public relations and grasstops campaign. We activated our supporters and had them make direct contact to their elected officials and key members of the legislature’s tax committee. We also held a press conference to showcase the Minnesota-based products that would be subject to the tax. The resulting public pressure led the Senate to pull the proposed tax off the table.