\n\tSince January, many Americans have felt the transformation of various structures and functions under the second Donald Trump administration. However, the new omnibus tax bill currently making its way through Congress introduces a new wrinkle that will particularly upset Minnesota Twins fans; it could end up killing the sale of the team.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tPresident Trump\u2019s signature legislative plan, the so-called \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act,\u201d has passed the House and arrived at the Senate. The bill, which runs over 1,000 pages, generally comes down to broad tax cuts for the top earners in America by raising taxes on the poorest<\/a>, alongside cutting 13.7 million Americans off health insurance<\/a>. Radically sweeping in scope, the bill includes a ban on any regulation of artificial intelligence<\/a>, neuters\u00a0the judiciary\u2019s power to limit abuses<\/a> by the executive branch, and removes the requirement for citizens to register gun silencers.<\/a> The bill projects to increase the federal deficit by $4.6 trillion<\/a> over the next decade.\n<\/p>\n \n\tMost of the bill heavily favors the ultra-wealthy, but right where the Pohlad family needs a break most, it might bite them hardest. Specifically, the bill includes a dangerous poison pill for new sports owners and their tax bills.\n<\/p>\n \n\tBuried on page 966<\/a> of the bill is a \u201cLimitation on Amortization of Certain Sports Franchises.\u201d The clause replaces language in the current tax code, reducing \u201cthe adjusted basis\u201d of various team assets from 100% to \u201c50 percent.\u201d As the New York Times reports<\/a>, those assets \u201cinclude player contracts, media rights and sponsorships \u2026 Under the House plan, team owners would be able to deduct from their taxes only half the value of those intangible assets over that period.\u201d To put it plainly, many teams would be accepting a much higher bill than any cuts they might get. While the White House has claimed this is to punish owners for \u201covercharging ticketholders,\u201d<\/a> it is difficult to see why owners would respond to the situation by reducing prices.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tDon\u2019t cry for the owners, of course, but any current sports group will not be hit with the bill. Only new owners of teams purchased after the passage of the bill will feel the brunt. It’s a difference of, depending on the situation, tens or scores of millions in tax breaks lost. Not even billionaires can take such a hit without their eyes watering a bit.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThat would likely have a chilling effect on the market for teams across every league, leaving most current owners\u2014whether John Fisher of the Athletics or Jerry Reinsdorf of the White Sox\u2014in place for another decade. New owners would probably want a discount on a sale, as they must spend extra years recovering their costs, something that the Pohlads have been unwilling to do<\/a>. Unless the Pohlads are dead set on selling, the bill would likely keep them as owners for the foreseeable future; it would certainly prevent them from getting the kind of price they’ve sought thus far.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tBecause the sale of teams is a long and thorny process, the idea that the Pohlads could \u201crush\u201d a transaction is far-fetched. When the Baltimore Orioles sale occurred last year, the timeline was slow:\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe Pohlads could cut through as much red tape as possible to ensure a sale, but it seems unlikely. Trump has suggested the bill should be on his desk before the July 4 holiday, and selling before that would be an extraordinary feat, given where things appear to stand now. The best chance to find ownership will likely rely on MLB agreeing to ownership from abroad by those willing to overspend, which would most likely \u201csportswashing\u201d ownership from the Middle East<\/a>. For decades, foreign ownership has been bandied about, but the league has always treated it as anathema, and that’s unlikely to change now.\n<\/p>\n