Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) introduced legislation on Thursday requiring professional sports team owners to give local governments and investors a chance to buy their teams before relocating.
Dubbed the Home Team Act, the bill would limit team owners from moving their franchise across state lines or into new metro areas without first giving local investors the opportunity to purchase the team. It would require owners to provide at least a year’s notice before relocating.
“Sports in America should be about more than just making billionaire owners even richer,” Casar said in the press release. “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.”
During the one-year notice period, local communities would have the opportunity to purchase the team at a fair market price. Sanders and Casar say the model for such purchases would be the Green Bay Packers, which operates under a community ownership structure.
“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,” Sanders wrote. “You shouldn’t have to be wealthy to take your family to a football game.”
The bill would also impose penalties on owners who fail to comply, and grant state and local governments the right to take legal action. It would not require a sale or block relocation if no local buyer is willing to pay a fair price, which would be determined by independent appraisers.
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Supporting the legislation in the House are Reps. Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Lateefah Simon (D-CA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).
Professional sports teams frequently relocate due to financial incentives. Most recently, the Raiders relocated from Oakland, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2020.