Sports Finance and Management

League Policies, Taxes, and Profits  ◾  429

players do lose value over time, their contract should reect this. ird, deprecia-

tion implies that an asset’s value decreases across time. As any sports fan knows,

often players get better before their productivity declines. Fourth, player costs are

already considered when nding prot. Because the owners do not literally own the

players, the cost of players is counted against prot and depreciated. Nonetheless,

the “Veeck loophole” began when Veeck sold the Indians in 1949 and this meant

teams could then pay less in taxes by depreciating their roster.

While Veeck began the roster depreciation allowance, the Milwaukee Braves

may have perfected it in 1964 (Leeds and Von Allmen, 2008). Bill Veeck may ...