Georgia considers tax break for college athletes moonlighting as spokespeople
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Future Heisman Trophy winners could soon have another reason to pick Georgia over Texas.
Driving the news: State Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) wants Georgia's tax code to exempt college student-athletes' income from name, image and likeness deals to gain a recruiting advantage.
Why it matters: Star athletes used to think about athletic programs and academic opportunities when picking schools.
- Today, the players want to know how much cash they can earn and keep before going pro.
The big picture: In a reminder that Georgia (the state) centers on Georgia (the school), Beach has dubbed the bill the "Kirby Smart bill," according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
- He says the tax break could lure top talent to the two-time national championship coach's team.
Between the lines: Georgia's 5.49% income tax is one of the highest in the South.
- Texas and Tennessee, which both had teams make the College Football Playoffs, exempt income from taxation altogether, as does Florida.
Zoom out: The lawmaker's push for incentives to attract the next great point guard to Georgia Tech is novel, Temple University sport management professor Thilo Kunkel told Axios.
- And it's not much different from Georgia, Texas and other states one-upping each other's economic incentives packages to woo Fortune 500 companies.
Yes, but: Beach's proposal raises questions about labor laws, tax policy and fairness, Kunkel said.
- "Why do we treat college athletes different to other college students?" he said. "Why should someone who makes their money through sport be taxed differently than someone who is a very talented musician or an artist or flips burgers for their living?"
The intrigue: Beach said Nick Saban, the legendary former Alabama coach who went from being Smart's boss from 2007 to 2015 to his biggest game-day rival, suggested the idea during a dinner party at Lake Burton.
- Saban, who retired in 2024 and now juggles endorsement deals, and Smart, a familiar face in Ford ads, are close.
Caveat: Beach, who has four Republican co-sponsors, told the Banner-Herald he hasn't spoken yet with Smart or the school's leadership about the legislation.
- Beach's bill does not include a fiscal note estimating the legislation's financial impact on Georgia's budget.
What's next: The bill sits in the Senate Finance Committee awaiting discussion and a vote.
The bottom line: We're living in a strange new world where college quarterbacks drive up to practice in Lamborghinis and college gymnasts smile down on us from billboards.