Does a professional athlete need a work visa to be traded to another team in another country?

Yes, all those Canadian hockey players need Immigration approval to play in the NHL on a US team. Otherwise, one could argue they are taking away jibs from American hockey players.

@zenvelo Otherwise? Huh? How are those ideas actually related?

You need a work visa to work legally in a country if you aren’t a citizen or some sort of other legal status that allows you to work.

In addition, out-of-state or out-of-country athletes are subject to local taxes for their work.

Example:

Mickey Mantle plays for the NY Yankees and lives in NYC.

He plays 30 games in California (against the Angels, Padres, Giants, Athletics) during the course of the year.

California expects to be paid 30/162 (30 games of the 162 game season) in state income tax based on his salary, because his income was partially earned in that State. And so on.

Athletic teams have bunches of accountants doing this sort of work every year.

@Zaku “Taking jobs from Americans” is a constant argument against allowing immigrants and foreigners to work in the US.

@elbanditoroso Those laws vary by state.

@JLeslie of course, some states don’t have income taxes.

I think some that do have income tax only charge if you are there more than a certain amount of time or a resident, while other state’s tax on anything you earn working in the state. Like back in the days of dividend and interest tax in TN, if you were in the state more than 5 months in the calendar year you had to pay income tax to the state.

@zenvelo Even if one is xenophobic enough to agree with that perspective, what does it have to do with Canadian hockey players needing to immigration approval? (Don’t pretty much all professional hockey players from Canada (those a US NHL team would hire) get approved?)

@Zaku I was being a little tongue in cheek. The OP is Canadian, and I was trying to point out why a foreign athlete still needs a work visa.