In Oakland, California, Raiders Nation and their tailgating culture was alive and well. The Raiders were led by Derek Carr and Co. and were always on the door of the playoffs, until… they left Oakland, maybe forever.
Today we're going to talk about the financial reasons why the Raiders left Oakland, because in these United States of America, money is everything.
To get to the bottom of the Raiders decision we have to take a deep dive into some crucial taxes around the country.
First, up is income tax. Each NFL team has around 64 players, and many other staff members. On one side we have California with the highest income tax rate in the country and on the other side we have Nevada, one of the few states that doesn’t have a state income tax.
Second up is property tax that controls any property a team owns, like their stadium, training facility etc, or houses owned by the players. Nevada has one of the best rates in the country, while California is in the middle of the group. This tax is crucial for the Raiders since Allegiant Stadium cost 1.9 billion dollars, and many players want to keep as much of their money as possible.
Finally, let’s talk about the jock tax. It’s my understanding that tax mainly affects athletes by making them pay income tax in whatever state they are in that has a jock tax. This means that when a team plays a game in California the players have to file an income tax return in California even if they work and live in Maryland. California is one of many states with jock tax, while Nevada is one of few states that doesn’t have jock tax.
Honorable mentions are the utilities and subsidies. Once you have a stadium you have to keep it running with water, electricity, internet, natural gas etc. Nevada has one of the cheapest average utility bill prices, while California has one of the highest electricity costs. For subsidies, its like free money governments give to teams to attract stadiums and teams. According to US News, the Raiders were given $750 million to move to Vegas; this was the largest stadium subsidy in NFL history.
Seeing all this financial evidence I think we can conclude that the Raiders were following the money and taxes played a major factor in their move.
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