The Milwaukee Bucks hope to choose a site to build a new arena by the end of the year.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says it will be hard to convince his Republican colleagues in the legislature to approve new public money for the project, such as a sales tax.
Yet, a couple other options are on the table that might be palatable. One is being referred to as a jock tax.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has calculated that NBA players paid more than $10 million in income taxes to Wisconsin in 2012.
Vos says those annual taxes could help pay back the debt, if the legislature decides to borrow money for a new arena.
Planners have insisted that there needs to be a public component. Vos calls the so-called jock tax is viable option.
"I know that if the Bucks would leave, the revenue would follow them so there would be a revenue loss for the state. So, there's definitely a financial incentive," Vos says.
The Fiscal Bureau's memo also states the taxes generated from NBA players could support borrowing $150 million to put toward a new Milwaukee basketball arena.
The state would pay back the money over a 20-year period.
