Some Players Can Lose Money Playing in Nashville

The athlete’s privilege tax applies to NBA or NHL players, at a rate of $2,500 per game with a cap of $7,500 in a year. The tax is applied to players for the Memphis Grizzlies, Nashville Predators and their visiting opponents. The tax, enacted in 2009, is distributed to arena owners and has generated about $2.2 million in Nashville and $1.1 million in Memphis.

The tax penalizes those players at or near their league’s minimum salary, causing them to at times lose money by playing a game in Tennessee, Fehr said.