NEWS: Casar, Sanders Introduce 'Home Team Act' to Prevent Owners from Moving Teams Without Giving Locals Chance to Buy

WASHINGTON – Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) on Thursday introduced the Home Team Act, which would require owners of professional sports teams to give local communities the chance to buy teams before relocating them.

The bill would protect fans from losing teams and protect taxpayers from being extorted for huge subsidies by the threat of relocation. It:

1. Requires sports franchise owners to provide notice a year before moving the team to a new community, defined by crossing state lines or moving to a new Metropolitan Statistical Area; 
2. During that year, it gives communities the chance to purchase the team at a fair price, including through the sort of successful community ownership model used by the Green Bay Packers. Teams could also be purchased by a government entity, a nonprofit or public partnership, or a private person, group, or company; 
3. Enforces a penalty for franchise owners who do not comply and provides a right of action for state and local governments.

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.

The bill is co-sponsored by: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Reps. Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX),  Lateefah Simon (D-CA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). 

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.

“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 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.”

"For decades, Oakland residents lovingly and passionately cheered on the Athletics, Raiders, and Warriors -- win or lose. Sports are in the blood of our city and are a key part of our cultural identity, which is why I'm proud to support the Home Team Act to ensure that community-owned sports teams cannot be relocated without community input and the opportunity to keep their home team local," said Simon. "Thank you to Representative Casar and Senator Sanders for their leadership on this legislation that empowers local communities like Oakland and gives fans a say in what happens to their hometown teams."

“Sports is more than just business. All across Pennsylvania, we love our teams and being a fan is a part of our way of life,” said Deluzio. “The community and fans that root for the teams they love—and often put public money into the stadiums they play in—should always have a chance to buy the team before sports team owners sell it off to the highest bidder. I’m proud to add my name to the Home Team Act led by Congressman Casar and Senator Sanders.” 

The bill is endorsed by: Americans for Tax Fairness, American Economic Liberties Project, Good Jobs First, Groundwork Collaborative, Sports Fan Coalition, and ThruSports.

"For decades, billionaire team owners have held communities hostage, forcing taxpayers to subsidize stadiums or threatening relocation," said David Kass, ATF's executive director. "We proudly endorse The Home Team Act, which would end this extortion by requiring leagues to allow community ownership options at fair prices and extended relocation notice periods. Our tax dollars should be spent investing in our communities and improving public services—not subsidizing billionaires threatening to rip the heart out of our communities."

"For too long, billionaire team owners have held cities hostage, demanding massive public subsidies or threatening to skip town, leaving fans and taxpayers on the hook,” said Brian Hess, Sports Fan Coalition executive director. “The HOME Team Act flips the script. By giving communities the first right to keep their teams, demanding transparency before relocations, and banning anti-public ownership rules, this bill is a game-changer. It arms cities and fans with real tools to protect their teams and their local investments from exploitative power plays. It’s a bold, innovative step that puts fans in control of their fandom."

"For decades, rich team owners have been able to hold cities hostage, demanding public subsidies or threatening to leave. This bill flips that dynamic. If a team is going to be sold, the people who actually built its value, the community, the fans, the local economy, should have a real chance to keep it," said Pat Garofalo, Director of State and Local Policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. "This bill should be part of any agenda that puts individuals first, not corporations, and recognizes that teams are civic assets, not just private playthings."

A recording of Casar and Sanders’ press conference announcing the bill is available here. 

Text of the bill is available here.

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Congressman Greg Casar represents Texas’s 35th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which runs down I-35 from East Austin to Hays County to the West Side of San Antonio. A labor organizer and son of Mexican immigrants, Casar serves as the Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the 119th Congress. He also serves on the Committee on Education and Labor and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability.