NEWS: Sanders, Casar Introduce Legislation to Prevent Owners from Moving Teams Without Giving Locals Chance to Buy

WASHINGTON, March 26 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) today introduced the Home Team Act, legislation to require owners of professional sports teams to give local communities the chance to buy teams before relocating them.
Joining Sanders and Casar as cosponsors of this legislation are Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and five members of the House of Representatives.
“The American people are sick and tired of billionaires threatening to move the sports teams they own to different states unless they get hundreds of millions in corporate welfare to build new stadiums,”Sanders said.“In my view, professional sports teams should be owned and controlled by the fans who love them, not by the multibillionaire oligarchs who are getting even richer by charging outrageous prices and getting taxpayers to pick up their extravagant costs. You shouldn’t have to be wealthy to take your family to a football game. You shouldn’t have to fear that a multibillionaire will move your favorite team to a different city if taxpayers refuse to subsidize it. The Home Team Act is a very modest piece of legislation that begins to address this problem. I am proud to support it.”
“Sports in America should be about more than just making billionaire owners even richer,”Casar said.“Far too many Americans know the pain of losing a team, and far too many communities have had to fork over billions in subsidies just to keep an already profitable team home. Our bill is about creating a level playing field so leagues work for fans and taxpayers, not just owners.”
The bill would protect fans from losing teams and protect taxpayers from being extorted for huge subsidies by the threat of relocation. It:
The bill would not require anyone to purchase a team and it would not prevent teams from moving if there is not a buyer able to meet a fair and reasonable price, as assessed by a team of appraisers.
Team relocation has plagued communities across America for decades, from the Brooklyn Dodgers moving in 1958 to recent moves such as the Oakland Athletics departing for Las Vegas. In other instances, the threat of relocation forces cities or states to offer billions of dollars in subsidies to teams already worth billions of dollars. Currently, the Chicago Bears are threatening to leave the city after more than 100 years in response to the state of Indiana offering massive subsidies. The bill would prevent the Bears from being moved across state lines without being offered for sale.
Read the bill texthere.
Read a summaryhere.