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Legislators in Minnesota recently passed a bill that will tax licensed sports memorabilia by 13%. That might sound like a lot to collectors, but it’s more complicate than just politicians lining their pockets with the proceeds from signed baseballs and signed Twins memorabilia. The legislation had to make several passes through the Minnesota state senate. Initially, it was set to finance a new stadium for the Minnesota Twins baseball team and also an additional stadium for the college football team, The Minnesota Gophers. “It’s the dance of the legislature,” said Senator Robert Bruininiks, after one of the bill’s many setbacks. The trajectory of the bill was followed by sports forums as varied as ESPN and Yahoo news. Eventually the Twins stadium became a separate issue, leaving the sports memorabilia tax to finance the Gophers.

The sports memorabilia industry is estimated at $1 billion+, and a lot of those signed baseballs find their way to Minnesota. The aim of the tax was to cover an annual $12.9 million payment that the state of Minnesota is set to make on the new Gophers stadium. Senators who opposed the bill stated concerns over the overall cost of the stadium—not cheap at $248 million—and also hesitations about the University of Minnesota’s academic record.

The sports memorabilia tax bill was also unpopular with local sports memorabilia dealers, who describe it as “unfair and burdensome.” Local dealers claim that it could raise overall prices by up to 20%, which is unfair to sports enthusiasts, long term collectors and hobbyists. Dealers point out that most in-store sales of signed baseballs and other sports memorabilia are actually to children in the 7-17 age range and that they’ll be the ones losing out because of the tax. Online sites like Baseballjump.com and Minnesota-based collectors wait to see exactly how the tax will take effect, but it is assumed it will also apply to online retailers of licensed sports memorabilia.

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