Winning Olympic Medals A Taxing Experience

There’s an old British racing expression that says what you lose on the swings you make up on the roundabouts. That’s also the attitude off predatory governments around the world as they see the spoils athletes are enjoying and want an undeserved piece of the action.

The Olympics are a prime target. Athletes who win a gold medal will receive US$37,500, while a silver medal will provide US$22,500 and a bronze medal US$15,000. In addition, World Athletics, the international governing body for athletics, has pledged to award $50,000 to gold medalists in track and field events, with relay teams splitting the money. Plus bonus money under personal contracts are also targeted.

As reported by Sportico, “Under a U.S-France tax treaty, “artistes and sportsmen”—a classification that covers Olympic athletes—are exempt from paying French taxes on up to $10,000 or its equivalent in Euros for services performed while in France. After $10,000, those earnings are taxable.

A $15,000 with-holding tax is being used by France on visiting athletes during the Games. (Athletes typically do get a credit in their home tax jurisdiction versus any deductions made outside their home area.)

Gold, silver and bronze medals all carry prizes that exceed $10,000, and the amounts exceeding the $10,000 threshold will be subject to French taxes. Those taxes generally range from 11 percent to 45 percent depending on the level of earnings. A leading expert on French tax law told Sportico that U.S athletes must “declare all French source income” and will be subject to a “15% withholding [that] is offset against personal income tax due.”

The French are hardly unique. For some time now municipal, state, provincial and federal governments have docked athletes for the amounts of their contracts paid for time spent in their jurisdictions. These so-called “jock taxes” deduct a figure proportionate to their salary relative to the number of days they do business in a jurisdiction.

When Canadian NHL teams were suffering from a low dollar in the early 2000s provincial governments introduced the tactic. Combined with the Canadian Assistance Program, this kept Canada from losing more than just Winnipeg and Quebec City to American markets. While not universally employed jock taxes are used in many places where the highest-grossing athletes play.

Naturally, athletes and their agents are looking to fight back against the encroachment of the tax man. (Ever notice that no one complains about making the term more inclusive? Tax Woman?) One of the ways they are doing this as salaries zoom to $50 million a year for more is to minimize their tax hit by heading to a state or province with a more conservative tax regime.

As we point out in our book Deal With It: The Trades that Shook The NHL & Changed Hockey, the 2022 defection of Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau from Calgary to American markets illustrated the peril faced by Canadian teams playing within a high-tax regime. Both players had expiring contracts— Gaudreau’s in 2022, Tkachuk’s in 2023. While Calgary was willing to meet their market value, they could not equal the after-tax packages both wanted.

Tkachuk, in particular, used the threat of walking away from Calgary to force a trade to Florida, a state with no state income tax. The Flames ended up trading him in a deal to the Panthers who made two Stanley Cup Finals— winning the Cup this year. The defection of Tkachuk and Gaudreau (to Columbus) gutted the Flames who are now re-tooling with younger players who are years from being able to use the NHL’s draconian salary cap to force a move.

There are five states with NHL teams that have a no-state-tax regime (Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Nevada, Washington). That makes them highly attractive to a player seeking to maximize his top contract. (Warm weather and anonymity away from the rink are also big draws.) The inequity is particularly punitive for Canadian teams which all function in very high tax regimes.

Leading some to demand the NHL tweak its salary cap to mitigate against tax breaks. As Eric Duhatschek writes in The Athletic, “The problem is that while there’s a lot of grumbling about the advantages that teams such as Florida and Tampa Bay may have, there isn’t a lot of belief that the system is about to change. For one thing, a change of this magnitude would have to be collectively bargained, and so the default position of the league is, if we need to address this at all, we’ll address it in 2026 when we need to go back to the bargaining table with the players’ association.”

Duhatschek points out that it takes more than low taxes to lure prime players. One executive told him, “His point was that Florida, Tampa Bay and Vegas all did something far better than any other team and that was why they won. Not because of the state tax codes. Tampa Bay found value in Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn as players chosen deeper in the draft.

“Florida found gold on the NHL scrap heap: Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling, Oliver-Ekman Larsson. Sam Bennett came for a second-rounder and a prospect. Brandon Montour was practically a giveaway too (third-round pick). Sam Reinhart provided great value (2022 first-rounder, plus goalie prospect Devon Levi). And trading the No. 2 overall scorer in the 2021-22 season (Jonathan Huberdeau) as part of a package for Matthew Tkachuk took enormous guts by GM Bill Zito.”

It’s not just Americans wanting to avoid Canadian taxes. One agent privately admitted that Canadians would be shocked to know bow many Canadians have high-tax Canadian market on their no-trade-to list. So we might soon be saying that the only assurances in a hockey life are death, taxes and the power of the U.S. market.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, he’s a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. His new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.

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www.notthepublicbroadcaster.com

BRUCE DOWBIGGIN Award-winning Author and Broadcaster Bruce Dowbiggin's career is unmatched in Canada for its diversity and breadth of experience . He is currently the editor and publisher of Not The Public Broadcaster website and is also a contributor to SiriusXM Canada Talks. His new book Cap In Hand was released in the fall of 2018. Bruce's career has included successful stints in television, radio and print. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster for his work with CBC-TV, Mr. Dowbiggin is also the best-selling author of "Money Players" (finalist for the 2004 National Business Book Award) and two new books-- Ice Storm: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Vancouver Canucks Team Ever for Greystone Press and Grant Fuhr: Portrait of a Champion for Random House. His ground-breaking investigations into the life and times of Alan Eagleson led to his selection as the winner of the Gemini for Canada's top sportscaster in 1993 and again in 1996. This work earned him the reputation as one of Canada's top investigative journalists in any field. He was a featured columnist for the Calgary Herald (1998-2009) and the Globe & Mail (2009-2013) where his incisive style and wit on sports media and business won him many readers.

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It’s Half-Past Tomorrow, And the Blue Jays Alarm Is Ringing

Bruce Dowbiggin / 6 days ago

They Were Who We Thought They Were. And Trump Let Them Off The Hook

Bruce Dowbiggin / 1 week ago

Dear Vladdy: Now, A Few Helpful Words From Vladimir Putin

Bruce Dowbiggin

It’s Half-Past Tomorrow, And the Blue Jays Alarm Is Ringing

Published on September 16, 2024

Bruce Dowbiggin

Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the mouth.- Mike Tyson

Okay, maybe it’s not exactly funereal, but the sad music is playing for the Toronto Blue Jays 2018 Master Plan. The design that was supposed to make Jays fans forget departing GM Alex Anthopoulos and worship new Jays president Mark Shapiro and his GM Ross Atkins. That was the legacy plan predicated on three hot prospects with famous baseball names— Vladimir Guerrero, Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio—and a pitching staff of gaudy free-agent signings—José Berrios, Kevin Gausman, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Chris Bassett— returning the Jays to their 1990s glory

What did Iron Mike say about plans? The peak of the 2024 season probably occurred last winter where, for a few short days, some Toronto media convinced the fans that Shohei Ohtani was taking Toronto’s money over Dodgers’ green. He didn’t, and with no Plan B, Shapiro started talking about the re-design of the Rogers Centre. Anything but the fact they were in big trouble on the field.

As the 2024 season winds down the Blue Jays now resemble their Baseball America Top 20 prospects roster more than a Shohei powerhouse on par with the Yankees, Dodgers and Astros. Yes, there have been some encouraging glimmers from the farm in this phoney war since the season collapsed months ago. In Spencer Horowitz, Addison Barger, Will Wagner, Joey Loperfido and Leo Jimenez there are hints at a more promising future. The no-hit bids by Bowden Francis have been a pleasant surprise.

Just not the Golden Boys + rented-pitching formula advertised for years by president Shapiro and GM Atkins. This formula, much-touted by Jays media, hasn’t worked out for a number of reasons. Briefly, the injury plague that laid low the bullpen this season occurring concurrently with Guerrero and Bichette slumping early was more than manager John Schneider could handle.

An offence that promised fireworks at the plate reminiscent of the 2015-2017 Gun Show has been more like a pop gun. While the starting pitching has stayed relatively healthy it has not dominated in a way that justifies the huge salaries doled out to its component parts. The abject failure of a series of Jays pitching prospects— typified by dumping uber-prospect Nate Pearson recently— has also scuttled the promise of catching the Yankees and Orioles. Will Francis break the schneid?.

Nor does the prospect of heading into 2025 with these components augur well. Before they get to next year there remains the vexing question of signing Guerrero and Bichette to longterm deals before 2026. Vladdy will get the moon and stars after rehabilitating this career midseason, becoming one of the top five hitters in baseball. (He also appears more grounded.) The question remains will he take that money in Toronto or go catch steam with a title contender. Because Toronto is not that team in 2025.

Bichette is the sticking point. In 2023 it looked as though he was the rock to build on. But his production suddenly cratered and injuries robbed him of about 250 at bats this year. There was talk he wanted out, that he was available at the trade deadline, that he’s in funk over family issues. Whatever, he’s not getting Vladdy money now as a free agent. He says he wants to stay, but will someone else pony up the full meal deal for him?

Yes, there’ll be primo free agents available to overpay. Juan Soto, Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso would all answer some need in the Blue Jays lineup— at astronomical costs (if they were even interested in playing in Canada). But as a second-tier location Toronto may have to bring back old pal Edwin Encarnacion or Arizona’s Christian Walker to distract from the decline of the team.

Which leaves the real question: will the phone salesmen at Rogers re-up with the Shapiro/ Atkins/ Schneider troika for one more try at pushing the rope the hill? It’s clear that Rogers loves Shapiro’s handling of the reconstruction of the playing surface, even if the work seeks to have turned Rogers Centre from a launching pad to a power neutral/ power negative one for the home team’s offence.

For the Rogers shareholders Shapiro’s Loonie Hot Dogs, Bobblehead nights and Oktoberfest specials are swell. The stands remain populated despite the dreck on the field. But the team they watch has been a painful failed strategy. Perhaps there will be enough feedback from disgruntled season ticket holders to force the hand of the Rogers paymasters.

But even if there isn’t, how can you let this front office handle the contract decisions on Guerrero and Bichette when another bad season will seem them gone? Perhaps this hinge point is a good time to reload the C suite with new eyes and something better than doing Western Night or the Westjet Flight Deck. The fans of MLB’s largest home market may seem content with bells and whistles.

But it’s half past tomorrow, and the alarm is ringing.

Bruce Dowbiggin

They Were Who We Thought They Were. And Trump Let Them Off The Hook

Published on September 12, 2024

Bruce Dowbiggin

In sports it’s well-known that if you’re complaining about refereeing you must have lost. Judging by the tsunami of criticism launched by Republicans at ABC News’s moderators after Tuesday night’s presidential debate it would tell you that Donald Trump lost his first— and likely only—debate with Kamala Harris.

“Three against one” was the persistent complaint about the work of ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis. And you could make the case for that criticism. A media analysis of ABC’s leftist news coverage before Tuesday showed that it gave Harris positive coverage 95 percent of the time, while Trump received just six percent positive coverage (most dedicated to his being shot). Further, Harris is a close pal of the woman who runs ABC News. Davis is Harris’ sorority sister. Really? Where were Trump or viewers informed of these conflicts?

Muir thought moderator meant fact-checker and inserted himself by debating Trump on his claims. On at least a half dozen occasions an unctuous Hume debated Trump about, among the topics, the eating of family pets by Haitian immigrants in towns and cities overrun by migrants. (A claim supported by Ohio’s attorney general.)

Snippy co-moderator Davis challenged Trump’s assertion that Harris was in favour of unlimited abortion until the moment of delivery (Davis was wrong) and then quickly moved on to softball Harris. Fair enough, if you or your bosses think your job is to correct in real time the assertions of the politicians.

Except they never upbraided Harris on a series of her own whoppers that have clearly been debunked. (“Fine people”, “bloodbath”, etc.) With that comfort zone, Harris lost her jitters and avoided mistakes. It was now a home game. Hence the chorus of “Unfair” that followed.

But let’s be honest, what was Trump expecting? This was Trump’s charge of the Light Brigade expecting another outcome. After the past decade, making a headlong charge into cannons is not a wise career move. But like the doddering generals of the 1850s British Army, an aging Trump has reached peak self delusion after dodging a bullet himself this summer. He is like the psychotic Maggott character Telly Savalas played in Dirty Dozen. Everything is going well on the mission till he sees a German woman he likes. Then he abandons the script. And hell breaks loose.

Sadly, his lieutenants now do a better job articulating his talking points these days. (It wouldn’t be a surprise if the GOP let RFK Jr. and VP candidate J.D. Vance do the more talking from here on in.)

Whether this debate was a missed opportunity or a campaign turning point will be decided in the coming weeks. For those who think it’s going to change the polls, remember that Biden’s epic debate meltdown from June only cost him a couple of points in popularity. Trump advanced but one point. Still, the DEMs panicked in June, launching a coup against the man who’d overwhelmingly won the primaries. (Mirror to January of 2017 when they launched a three-year attempted coup to remove Trump.)

Trump mentioned Harris not getting any primary votes, but ABC wrinkled its nose at a real story, preferring to delve into how Trump’s father made money 50 years ago. What was definitive about Tuesday is that the DC Media Party is again in the tank. The son of the President of the United States of America had just pled guilty to tax evasion for bribes he received from foreign adversaries in exchange for selling access to his father, the vice president at the time. This should have been the first, last and every question from ABC’s Mod Squad. Nope, let’s talk about E. Jean Carroll.

There’s no price to pay for burying uncomfortable stories. Example: Here’s John Kirby, spokesman for the Defence Dept., “Was anyone ever held accountable by the president directly for what happened with the withdrawal in Afghanistan?” KIRBY: “We have all held ourselves accountable…”

Oh good. Let’s move along. As Louisiana senator John Kennedy noted, “I know many people in Washington D.C. that would unplug your life support to charge their cell phone.” That explains a media mob that now talks openly of banning anyone who doesn’t sing from their anti-Trump hymn book..

This cheerleading has metastasized in the past generation. As veteran journalist Matti Friedman wrote this week on Substack in When We Started to Lie: “The practice of journalism—that is, knowledgeable analysis of messy events on Planet Earth—was being replaced by a kind of aggressive activism that left little room for dissent. The new goal was not to describe reality, but to usher readers to the correct political conclusion…

The activist-journalists, I found, were backed up by an affiliated world of progressive NGOs and academics who we referred to as experts, creating a thought loop nearly impervious to external information. All of this had the effect of presenting a mass audience with a supposedly factual story that had a powerful emotional punch and a familiar villain.”

What’s interesting is that no one in the U.S. has had to pay journalists to do this. In Canada the Trudeau federal government is taking no chances. It has taken to threatening media outlets it now supports through its media slush funds. Here’s Taleeb Noormohamed, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage dressing down a media critic who mentioned Noormohamed’s sketchy real estate flipping history,

. @Taleeb Your paper wouldn’t be in business were it not for the subsidies that the government that you hate put in place – the same subsidies your Trump – adjacent foreign hedge fund owners gladly take to pay your salary.” Translation: Nice little business you’ve got there. Too bad if something were to happen to it.

This behaviour has cowed many establishment journalists who, instead of carving Justin, write Trump thought-loop diatribes so they don’t get the Roman Polanski Chinatown nose surgery. (Nosy boy?”) Long, long after even the Dems have moved on from the most demented Trump fabrications the CDN media will still be slavishly regurgitating the pablum served to them by their heroes in American spy craft.

As such CBC newscasts are now time capsules of 2016 Think, indistinguishable from PMO press releases and leaks. We recently watched a newscast while in the lobby of the CBC building as the network adopted the missionary position on the latest Obamite Russia propaganda campaign. Followed by yet another deep swallow on Hottest Year on record. CBC had its senior reporter wheel out a single embedded “source” it’s used since the 1990s– w/o any conflicting “experts” as CBC reporting code requires– to re-varnish the narrative it has excreted since it decided that hot, not cold, would kill us all.

Unapologetic propaganda for imbecile liberals. That’s why it’s easier to blame the refs.