The phrase made famous by the sports movie, “Jerry Maguire” was “Show me the money!”

Now that phrase is being employed by Federal and state governments when it comes to tax laws and sports.

There is a growing belief in Congress and state legislatures that the time has come to see the football and basketball college factories for what they are – big business.

There is a feeding frenzy going on out there at institutions such as Michigan, Texas and Maryland, just to mention three, where millions are being spent on stadiums and state-of-the-art athletic facilities.

All of this is being done through the universities’ tax-exempt status under Federal tax laws.

The universities use tax-exempt bonds, bonds that could be used for true educational matters, then sell the corporate naming rights (not taxable) or the new luxury suites to corporations and other boosters who get to deduct 80 percent of that cost.

The taxpayers get hammered twice.

Egging on the issue are the coaching salaries that have gone into the stratosphere. Those are often being covered, at least in part, by money from booster groups that have some ill-defined connection to university sports programs.

Those groups more and more look as though they are running college sports.

Pro sports are not exempt from this examination. Congress is reviewing the Sports Broadcast Act of 1961 that allows leagues to pool their resources and sell their broadcast rights as one.

That is how the NFL makes a fortune. Remove this act and teams would have to act as business competitors and enter individual contracts with broadcasters.

The relentless use of taxpayer dollars to build stadiums for pro owners continues under examination.

San Francisco is fighting the 49ers, who want a new stadium and tax money to build it. Otherwise, they threaten to move. How many times has this threat been used by pro teams grabbing for public dollars?

San Diego is battling the Chargers, who want a new stadium and claim they are going to finance it through the establishment of other businesses around the stadium that would pay leases or purchase property.

Economists are warning the city to beware. In the end, pro sports love to talk a big game, but they always want the city on the hook if something goes bad. Additionally, they expect the city to pay for the “incidental” costs like highway construction, public transit stations and public utility services.

We may actually be seeing a comeuppance for all sports. Colleges may be forced to get their programs back under the educational umbrella and pro sports may have to actually act like the private businesses they are.

All the better for the taxpayers who unknowingly pay the freight too often, and for sports that will have to live within their means.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and ABC sportscaster.