WASHINGTON. D.C. – A new bill introduced in Congress could help cities like San Antonio keep their professional sports teams at home.
The Home Team Act, unveiled Tuesday by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, would require owners to give local communities the chance to buy a team before relocating it.
The American people are sick and tired of billionaires threatening to move the sports teams they own unless they get hundreds of millions in corporate welfare to build new stadiums,” Sanders said. “Professional sports teams should be owned and controlled by the fans who love them, not by multibillionaire oligarchs.
Casar added that the bill is about fairness for fans and taxpayers.
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,” he said.
Under the legislation, owners would have to notify a community a year in advance of a move across state lines or into a new metropolitan area. During that year, local governments, nonprofits, private groups or individuals could purchase the team at a fair price, similar to the community ownership model used by the Green Bay Packers. The bill would also enforce penalties for owners who fail to comply.
The measure would not force anyone to buy a team and would not prevent relocation if no buyer is able to meet a fair price.
Team relocations have disrupted communities for decades, from the Brooklyn Dodgers leaving New York in 1958 to recent moves such as the Oakland Athletics relocating to Las Vegas. The threat of a move often pressures cities and states to offer massive subsidies to already profitable teams.
The Home Team Act would prevent teams, including long-standing franchises like the Chicago Bears, from being moved across state lines without being offered for sale first.
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