Ticket tax for American Family Field events, including Brewers games, could generate up to $6.5M, new analysis says

MADISON – A tax on all events held at American Family Field, including Milwaukee Brewers games, could generate between $3.2 million and $6.5 million per year according to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

It's an option some lawmakers have pushed for in order to earn their support for a $546 million ballpark funding proposal aimed at keeping the team in Wisconsin through at least 2050 — and one the team and the proposal's authors have declared a "non-starter."

The plan, which passed 69-27 in the Assembly last month, features $411 million from the state and $135 million from Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee to be paid over nearly 30 years. The Brewers, owned primarily by multi-millionaire investor Mark Attanasio, would provide $140 million ($100 million in new commitments).

In return, the Brewers' lease at the publicly owned American Family Field would extend from the end of 2030 to 2050.

Republicans hold 22 of the state's 33 Senate seats, but need Democratic votes to win approval. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said before a Senate committee hearing last week that the legislation doesn't have 17 Republican votes — the simple majority required to pass it.

LeMahieu said it's important for the deal to pass with bipartisan support as it did in the Assembly. Any changes made to the legislation by the Senate would require Assembly sign-off before it makes its way to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who supports the proposal.

Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, said Senate Democrats aren't on board with the deal yet during a Sunday interview on WISN-TV's "Upfront." Evers told reporters on Wednesday he has persuaded some Democrats to vote yes.

The concept of a ticket surcharge for Brewers games has been floated by lawmakers across the ideological spectrum, including Roys and Senate President Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield.

Kapenga requested the LFB memo, which was prepared on Oct. 26, estimating "the amount of revenue that could be generated from a tax of between 3% and 6% on the retail price of a ticket sold to any paid ticketed event held at American Family Field."

The analysis breaks down the estimates among Brewers games, summer concerts and winter events like athletic tournaments and monster truck rallies. Winterizing the ballpark for such usage, at an estimated $25 million cost, is included in the plan making its way through the Legislature.

According to the LFB, a 3% tax on tickets to winter events would bring in an estimated $460,000. Add the estimated $240,000 for summer concerts and a 3% tax would bring in an estimated $700,000 per year. A 3% tax on tickets to games would bring the yearly total up to $3.24 million per year.

A 4% tax on all tickets would yield an estimated $4.34 million per year. That would go up to $5.42 million with a 5% tax on all tickets and up to $6.5 million with a 6% surcharge.

Without including Brewers games in the tax, a 4% tax on summer and winter events would bring in an estimated $950,000 per year. A 5% tax on those events would bring the total to $1.18 million, and 6% would bring it up to $1.41 million per year.

The estimates are based on a total attendance of 2.6 million people for 81 regular season games, which is the average attendance since the ballpark opened in 2001, and an average price of $32.81 per ticket.

A 3% tax on Brewers games would add 18 cents to the ballpark's cheapest tickets ($6 in "Bernie's Terrace"), 98 cents to the average ticket and $3.15 to the most expensive tickets ($105 in "Field Diamond Platinum" behind home plate). A 6% tax would add 36 cents to Bernie's Terrace tickets, $1.97 to the average ticket and $6.30 to the most expensive tickets.

Kapenga was not available to comment on the memo.

Brewers oppose a ticket tax on the team's games

Brewers officials and the lawmakers behind the proposal have signaled a willingness make changes including a ticket surcharge for concerts and other non-Brewers events to help raise money for stadium improvements, an audit of the stadium district, exploration of commercial development opportunities at the stadium parking lots, and reducing the state's overall funding contribution.

Adding a ticket tax for Brewers events would be a "non-starter," bill co-author Rep. Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, told the Senate Committee on Government Operations last week.

“We’re not disputing that a ticket tax would raise revenue, we’re disputing that it’s a good idea to raise taxes on hard-working families," Rick Schlesinger, Brewers president of business operations, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "The Brewers ownership made a decision to put $140 million into this agreement to keep Major League Baseball in Wisconsin instead of taxing our fans."

Schlesinger has noted in testimony to legislative committees that the Brewers' market is the smallest in the MLB, but the team's attendance generally outpaces the league's average. Making tickets affordable for fans is key to that model, Brewers officials argue.

In testimony to an Assembly committee, Schlesinger said Brewers ticket prices are among the lowest in Major League Baseball — helping boost ticket sales while also allowing "people of modest means to enjoy baseball."

"We want to sign a generational lease extension," Schlesinger told Senate committee members last week. "The last thing I want to do is figure out a way to leave. I'm doing everything I can to make sure we're here."

The legislation's bipartisan support is "a good example of defeating the notion that the system in Madison is broken," Schlesinger said.

The proposal's supporters include Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Greater Milwaukee Committee civic organization, and the Home Crew Coalition, a group of Wisconsin business operators.

Opponents include Citizen Action of Wisconsin, an economic, racial, and environmental justice advocacy group, and conservative group Americans for Prosperity Wisconsin.

The stadium is owned largely by the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District, a state-created agency that leases the ballpark to the Brewers. That lease requires the stadium district to pay for most of the ballpark's long-term maintenance and renovations.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ticket tax for American Family Field ticket tax could generate $6.5M