Louisiana college athletic programs closer to scoring state tax dollars

Most college athletic programs in Louisiana could soon each receive nearly $2 million in state tax revenue annually under a plan advancing in the legislature. 

House Bill 639 by Rep. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, cleared the House on a 74-15 vote. It would increase the tax on sports gambling from 15% to 21.5%. One-fourth of that revenue would go to the Supporting Programs, Opportunities, Resources and Teams (SPORT) Fund to benefit student-athletes at Louisiana’s public universities that compete at the NCAA Division I level – UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Grambling, McNeese, Nicholls, Northwestern State, Southeastern, Southern and the University of New Orleans.  

Under the new tax rate, Louisiana would receive about $77 million annually from sports gambling, with about $20 million dedicated to the new fund. Each school would get approximately $1.7 million annually. 

That’s a small drop in the bucket for LSU, which has an athletics budget of over $200 million. But it would be a significant lifeline for schools such as Southern, Nicholls and ULM, which each spend less than $20 million a year on their sports program. 

The proposed increase in sports gambling taxes has support from conservative and progressive corners, both saying the revenue should be used to offset the “social ills” of gambling. The higher rate would generate more money for addiction programs.

But the decision to dedicate some of that revenue to college athletics at a time when the state is under budget constraints troubles some progressives. 

“Legalized mobile gambling has created or exacerbated many social and cultural problems, including addiction, bankruptcies and even increases in domestic violence. New tax revenue should be used first and foremost to address some of those problems before we talk about spending more money on college sports,” said Peter Robins-Brown, executive director of Louisiana Progress, an advocacy group for marginalized communities. 

Presently, the state’s split for sports gambling tax revenue calls for 25% to go toward early childhood education, 10% to local governments, 3% to gambling addiction programs, and the rest to other priorities and the state general fund. 

Under Riser’s bill, childhood education, local governments and addiction recovery would retain their existing share of tax proceeds. In addition to the 25% for college athletics, another 3% would be dedicated to the Louisiana Postsecondary Inclusive Education Fund to finance programs for students with disabilities. The rest goes into the state general fund for a variety of government needs. 

Riser’s bill will next be discussed in a Senate committee.