logo

Do visiting professional baseball players pay Wisconsin income taxes on the money they earn playing at the Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium?

By Tom Kertscher
YES

Wisconsin taxes professional baseball, basketball, football, hockey and soccer athletes who don’t live in Wisconsin for the income they receive when their team plays in Wisconsin.

Here’s how much Major League Baseball players and team staff paid annually over the past decade, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue:

2013: $8,094,480

2014: $8,946,881

2015: $9,205,109

2016: $7,806,279

2017: $8,864,843

2018: $11,993,591

2019: $12,324,597

2020: $5,005,837

2021: $10,526,234

2022: $12,385,257

The Milwaukee Brewers baseball team says American Family Field, where it plays, needs $448 million in renovations.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican-controlled Legislature are considering whether to commit taxpayer money toward the renovations.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, said in May 2023 that he is open to using the tax revenue received from visiting baseball players toward the renovations.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
FACT BRIEF BY
facebook
twitter
email
email