Professional sports teams are always searching for a way to get an edge on their competition.
Sometimes they can find it in the most unlikely place.
And Bill Belichick revealed one surprising advantage Florida teams have against Boston.
Boston professional sports teams hurt by high state taxes
The city of Boston has had a run of successful championship teams in the four major professional sports in the 21st century.
In 2011, the Boston Bruins hoisted the Stanley Cup after they won the NHL championship.
One group says the team has not been able to return to the top of professional ice hockey because of the tax policies of Democrat-controlled Massachusetts.
The Mass Opportunity Alliance said the Bruins are losing out on top talent because of high state taxes.
Seven of the last 10 teams to reach the NHL finals came from states that do not have an income tax.
The two most recent teams to win the Stanley Cup, the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights, are in states where players pay no state income tax.
Bruins star forward Brad Marchand paid about $400,000 in taxes to Massachusetts on his nearly $5 million salary which he would not have in a state like Florida that does not tax income.
Massachusetts has a millionaires’ tax that adds an additional 4% tax on salaries over $1 million.
Florida Panthers star forward Sam Reinhart signed a $69 million contract to stay with the team.
Alan Pogroszewski, who does tax consulting for professional athletes, told the Associated Press that if Reinhart had signed with a team in New York they would have to give him an $88 million contract to earn the same amount as with the Panthers because of high state taxes.
Taxachusetts hurt the New England Patriots
Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick admitted that taxes in Massachusetts hurt the team’s ability to sign players during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
“Once you hit that million-dollar threshold, then you pay more state tax in Massachusetts,” Belichick said. “It’s just another thing you’ve got to contend with in negotiations up there.”
He warned that “Taxachusetts” was costing the Patriots players to states without an income tax.
“It’s not like Tennessee or Florida or Nevada, or some of these teams have no state income tax,” Belichick explained. “So you get hit pretty hard on that with the agents. They’ll come and sledgehammer you down about the taxes they’re paying.”
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb signed a four-year contract for $136 million this season.
Belichick thought that Lamb was in a good situation in Dallas.
“Does he want as much money as possible? Yeah, of course. But is it really worth it to go out of town to wherever and not be playing in the environment and the opportunity that he has there in Dallas?” Belichick asked.
He noted that Lamb would have to think about the tax situation if he went to New England.
“A decision you have to make as a player, like … you want to try to get as much as you can from the team you want to be with,” Belichick explained. “If you’re already on that team, then how much is it really worth by the time you move, you know, pay your 50 percent tax, or your millionaire’s tax in New England, you got that one too. You know, what’s really a differential?”
Blue state tax policy is giving an edge to teams in Florida where players do not have to worry about paying a state income tax.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
