To Our Loyal Fans,
We appreciate your continued loyalty to our teams, and we want you to know that we do not take your support for granted. We also understand that when you come to a game to support our players, there is a cost associated with it before you even get into the building with respect to parking, transportation and, most notably, Chicago and Cook County amusement taxes. We never lose sight of that, and we do our best to operate with those concerns in mind.
As you may know, the current amusement tax on tickets to sporting events in Chicago is at 12% - already one of the highest in the United States. Meanwhile, the amusement tax for concerts, still high by national standards, is taxed at a lower rate, currently at 6.5%. However, if our politicians get their way, that will all change.
Late last week, city officials announced a proposal to raise the tax on concert tickets to 10.5% - an increase of 80% - which would make Chicago concert ticket taxes among the highest in the United States as well.
Chicago stands alone for many reasons that we can be proud of - but having the highest amusement taxes for fans attending sports and concerts in the United States should not be one of them.
We think it's a bad idea for several reasons. First, in the short term, it will cost you, the music fan, more money. But the costs long term will be even greater. By driving this tax to one of the highest in the country, Chicago will lose concerts. As the shows leave, so do the dollars that flow through restaurants, cabs and hotels on any given show night. And despite what our political leaders believe, the losses will far surpass any gains a tax increase was intended to garner.
We strongly oppose this measure and will do everything we can to convey that message to city leaders. As you can see, we are working with fellow teams to oppose not only this increase that would affect music fans, but any other increase that would impact our sports fans.
As the process moves forward, we will keep you up to date on what you can do to make your voice heard. Thank you for your continued support.
