Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules “Jock Tax” Is Unconstitutional
Stephen W. Kidder, Ryan P. McManus and Jennifer Grace Miller successfully represented the Major League Baseball Players Association, National Hockey League Players Association and National Football League Players Association in a lawsuit challenging Pittsburgh’s income tax on professional athletes.
On September 25,2025 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision and ruled that the Pittsburgh Sports Facility Usage Fee charged to visiting professional baseball, football and hockey players violated the Pennsylvania Constitution’s Uniformity Clause.
Kidder and McManus argued that Pittsburgh’s 3% tax on visiting professional athletes was unconstitutional because residents were not subject to the same tax. The Court agreed, finding the City failed to justify its case for subjecting residents and nonresidents to different tax burdens.
“Here, the city does not provide concrete reasons that would justify taxing nonresident athletes and entertainers more than resident athletes and entertainers,” Justice David Wecht wrote in the 14-page opinion.
Kidder said, “We look forward to completing the process of securing refunds for the many professional athletes who have been forced to pay this unconstitutional tax for many years.”
Hemenway & Barnes brought the case on behalf of three individual professional athletes and the players’ unions in November 2019 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. In September 2022, Judge Christine Ward found the usage fee violated the Uniformity Clause, and her decision was subsequently affirmed by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. The City appealed the case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which issued its decision striking down the usage fee on September 25, 2025.
Hemenway & Barnes has successfully challenged the constitutionality of similar taxes in Cleveland, Illinois and Tennessee. Kidder has represented the players’ associations for the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League for more than 30 years in similar litigation.
The Hemenway & Barnes team included: Stephen Kidder, Ryan McManus, Jennifer Grace Miller, Kevin Ellis, and Michael Porter.