No luxury tax in 2005 or 2006?

[Mark Piotrowski <markp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

from Hoopsworld:
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_5008.shtml


NO TAX?

Ill caution by saying be careful what you believe, but UNC Greensboro
professor Dan Rosenbaum, widely considered by media outlets as the
foremost expert on the NBAs luxury tax system, recently commented that
his research shows that if NBA teams continue to be mindful of
spending, and revenues rise as they have in this economic environment,
that teams will likely stay under the Luxury tax trigger points in 2005
and 2006. Several teams paid luxury tax this summer, with reports
putting the number of taxpayers closer to 16 teams, paying something in
tax. Portland, New York and Dallas are the usual suspects for hefty tax
payments, mainly due to their rosters and salary commitments being
almost twice some of the other teams in the league. Many of those 16
teams will likely pay tax in 2004 as well, but 2005 and 2006 look to be
easier to hit providing salaries stay in check. The biggest reason for
this change is the structure of the NBAs current TV contract. While
the dollars and cents of the current deal are larger than the previous
deal with Turner and NBC, the current deal has more money in the
backend than the front end, and significant revenue is tied to the
deployment and development of NBA TV, as a stand-alone revenue source.
NBA commissioner David Stern commented to media during this summers
playoffs that the NBA was in significant talks with several major cable
systems about including the NBATV offering into their systems. Stern
joked that if NBATV was not in twice as many homes by the playoffs in
2004, he should be fired. It seems if Stern does not hit his goal, the
owners may pay the price for it in luxury tax.