Hello and welcome to another edition of <\/span>Free Agent<\/span><\/i>!<\/span><\/p>\n

We’ve got a special bonus edition of the newsletter for you today, covering the results of all kinds of sports-related ballot initiatives and politicians running for office.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not an entirely exhaustive list\u2014do not come at me for excluding Abdul El-Sayed (who played club lacrosse in college) or an NFL punter who I don’t remember that ran for state legislature. Vote totals may change slightly from what we have here as final vote counts come in.<\/span><\/p>\n

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We’ll start with ballot initiatives, since they have a more direct impact on sports policies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stadium taxes:<\/b> In Plano, Texas, voters rejected several tax increases that would have helped fund a new development, <\/span>including an arena for the Dallas Stars<\/span><\/a>. The tax increases included a 2 percent tax on hotel rooms, a 5 percent tax on car rentals, an event parking tax of $3 per car, and up to a 10 percent tax on tickets. Athletes themselves would have been taxed too, paying a $5,000 “facility-use tax” for each game played at the new arena.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over in Inglewood, California, the vote on an expanded ticket tax for SoFi Stadium, Intuit Dome, and Kia Forum is extremely tight\u201450.76 percent of voters have sided with no tax increases, but votes are still being counted. Also, in McKinney, Texas, the school district asked to issue a $2.5 million <\/span>bond to upgrade its 12,000-capacity football stadium<\/span><\/a>. Voters rejected the idea, with almost 70 percent against.<\/span><\/p>\n

Transgender athletes:<\/b> Nebraska passed a ballot initiative, with 68 percent in favor, requiring public schools, and private schools competing against public schools, to <\/span>designate their sports teams by biological sex<\/span><\/a> (coed included as an option). It also bans males from participating in female sports. A similar measure in <\/span>Colorado<\/span><\/a> seems likely to pass, but has just 52.7 percent support with an estimated 88 percent of votes counted. Arizona already has a law like this for K-12 public schools, but <\/span>Proposition 318<\/span><\/a>\u2014which passed with 59 percent of the vote\u2014extends it to private schools, colleges, and athletic association facilities (like Little League). In Washington State, Measure 638 has similar prohibitions, and it passed with 57 percent of the vote. The new law will <\/span>require female athletes to submit sex verification documents<\/span><\/a> from their doctor or healthcare provider.<\/span><\/p>\n

Online sports betting:<\/b> Two <\/span>ballot<\/span><\/a> initiatives<\/span><\/a> sought to legalize online sports betting in Nebraska, but they both failed with about 55 percent of the vote against. Nebraska has legal sports betting, but only at in-person, physical sportsbook locations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sporting goods tax:<\/b> Colorado voted on Proposition 137, to <\/span>divert a portion of the sales tax on sporting goods<\/span><\/a> to be spent on environmental conservation. With 87 percent of votes counted, the measure is leading narrowly with 50.8 percent support.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales tax for stadium trains:<\/b> A portion of Colorado cities voted to collectively approve Proposition 7A, which will create a 0.333 percent sales tax in those cities to be <\/span>spent on a passenger rail system<\/span><\/a> that will have stations at, among other places, Colorado’s major sports stadiums.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, federal legislation wasn’t on the ballot, but with Democrats taking over so much of the government in January, you have to think they’ll have no interest in backing the carefully negotiated Protect College Sports Act in its current form<\/a>. They can just wait until January and try to get a better deal (though they would still need President Donald Trump’s signature then, unless they can get some GOP help to overcome his veto).<\/span><\/p>\n

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“If you want a quote, here it is,” the aide said, “the NIL bill is dead on f****** arrival.”<\/p>\n

It’s time for college sports to move on from the PCSA. https:\/\/t.co\/bQrf5FEcM2<\/a><\/p>\n

— Mit Winter (@WinterSportsLaw) November 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n