The Senate Taxes Committee on Thursday heard a bipartisan bill authored by Senator Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) that would give Minnesota a permanent funding source to compete for major sports events.
Senate File 5101 creates the Sports and Events Reimbursement Program (SERP). The self-sustaining program would capture tax revenue generated by qualifying large-scale sporting events, and route that money to a special revenue fund allowing organizations like Minnesota Sports and Events (MNSE) to use for future event bids. This is a performance-based funding model, and no existing state funds would be used.
"Minnesota Sports and Events has an impressive track record of bringing major sporting events to Minnesota, however, our state regularly misses out on hosting even more events due to the lack of a permanent funding source," Senator Miller said. "This bill helps level the playing field and enables Minnesota to better compete for more events, like the Final Four, NFL Draft, US Olympic Trials, Big 10 and NCAA Championships, All-Star Games, FIFA World Cup, PGA and LPGA Tournaments, and other major events without starting from scratch every time.”
SF 5101 captures tax revenue generated as the direct result of the state hosting a qualifying major sporting event. The taxes include retail sales taxes, income taxes, rental motor vehicle taxes, liquor taxes, cannabis gross receipts taxes, and retail delivery fees. The University of Minnesota already conducts a study following major events to determine the event’s economic impact and tax revenue generated. That study would be used to determine how much funding is distributed to the Sports and Events Reimbursement Program (SERP) account.
In recent years, Minnesota has lost out on several events to cities that have been able to guarantee funding up front, like Detroit, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, and others. A reliable, self-sustaining funding source would give us the ability to compete with those cities.
The bill covers 29 specific event categories, including the Super Bowl, NFL Draft, NCAA Championships, NHL Winter Classic and World Juniors, Professional All-Star Games, UFC, WWE Premium Live Events, Formula 1, the X Games, PGA championships, World Cup matches, Olympic Trials and more.
The bill was laid over and will be considered for a larger tax bill later in session.