In addition to the $850 million in public funds the Buffalo Bills are getting toward their new $1.7 billion stadium, the team is receiving a tax break worth tens of millions of dollars on the sale of personal seat licenses.
While ticket sales for Bills games are subject to sales tax, the deal the team struck with the state is structured in a way that allows the Bills to avoid paying those taxes on the PSLs they are now selling to season ticket holders. And with the team expecting to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from the sale of PSLs, dodging the sales tax can quickly add up to an additional subsidy of more than $25 million for the team.
The revenue from the sale of PSLs will also allow the Bills to reimburse themselves and its agent in the project, sports marketing consultant Legends, for all costs and expenses incurred in the sale of PSLs, using a portion of the revenues raised through their sale.
Purchasing a PSL – or Personal Seat License – will give fans ownership of that seat for the life of the 30-year lease in the new stadium. While PSLs are an unpopular added expense for some fans, they have become an integral part in the building of new stadiums for nearly three decades.
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