A new tax will be added to all pro sports tickets in Oklahoma in a move expected to raise around $3m (£2.3m/€2.7m) for state coffers.
The US state’s senate approved plans that will see a $1 fee added to tickets costing less than $50, while tickets costing more than $50 will see customers pay a $2 fee. Oklahoma’s pro sports teams include the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.
Ticket buyers currently enjoy a sales tax exemption, which a previous plan had enforced.
Senate Minority Leader John Sparks, D-Norman said, according to the Tulsa World news website: “We had a sales tax (measure) out there that equitably distributed the load of taxes on these professional tickets,
“When it came to awareness that people buying $5,000 and $2,500 floor seats pay a couple of hundred dollars in tax — oh my God. People just came apart.”
Sparks added that those with the more expensive seats should have to pay the same sales tax as those sitting in the cheaper seats.
Senator Kim David said that the business model of the stadiums is that the more expensive seats make the cheaper seats available. She added that lawmakers agreed to impose a fee, instead of removing the sales tax exemption.
“It is a reasonable fee so we can keep those seats up there so everyone can afford to go to a game,” David said. “It is a business model.”
The bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 26-18 and will now go to Governor Mary Fallin to formerly approve the fee into action.
House staff believe the measure will raise nearly $2.7m, according to the Tulsa World website.
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