US EditionBears' Indiana Relocation, Stadium Plan May Hit Snag with Proposed Bill
The Home Team Act would require one-year notice and offer communities a fair-price purchase option before team relocations, aiming to protect fans and taxpayers nationwide.
- On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar introduced the Home Team Act, requiring professional sports team owners to provide one year of notice before relocating across state lines or to new metropolitan areas.
- The proposal follows months of pressure from the Chicago Bears, who are exploring a potential move to Hammond, Indiana, where the state government recently established a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority to facilitate building a new facility.
- Under the legislation, communities could purchase franchises at "fair and reasonable" prices using models like the Green Bay Packers' community ownership structure, preventing owners from leveraging taxpayer subsidies through relocation threats.
- Co-Sponsors include Rep. Chuy Garcia and Rep. Lateefah Simon , whose districts have lost professional teams. While the bill faces long odds, supporters argue it protects municipalities from being leveraged for tax dollars.
- Lawmakers argue the act addresses a "race to the bottom" where billionaire owners extort billions in subsidies, citing historic relocations like the Raiders' move to Las Vegas as examples of lasting community damage.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Senator Bernie Sanders wants to keep the Bears in Illinois
The Chicago Bears border battle is getting some attention from an unlikely person: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. Illinois faces mounting pressure to keep one of the nation’s oldest football franchises, while Indiana tries to lure them to Hammond. It’s dragged on so long that now, Congress is running interference. “The idea that … they could blackmail one community against another for more tax breaks or more public subsidies is not acceptable,” Sa…
Bernie Sanders and Greg Casar Want to Keep Sports Teams in Their Home Communities
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)The Dodgers left Brooklyn after the 1957 season. Sen. Bernie Sanders is still upset about it.He and Rep. Greg Casar announced Thursday they will introduce new legislation meant to keep professional sports franchises in their home communities.“I can remember … when a guy simply took a profitable team out of Brooklyn, put it across the country, and it was a horrific moment for the people in my community,” Sa…
With Bears in mind, Sanders bill would offer up sports teams to city before 'billionaire owners' try to move
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Texas Rep. Greg Casar want communities to be able to buy a sports team before "billionaire owners" try to move it, very pointedly bashing the Chicago Bears' effort to relocate to Indiana which Casar repeatedly likened to "negotiating with a gun" to the head.While it's typically never a good thing for the Chicago Bears to be compared to the Green Bay Packers, a new bill would allow the Bears, and any other sports team, to …
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ bill aims to slow — or stop — teams like the Chicago Bears from moving to other states
Long-shot legislation would give communities a chance to keep their professional sports teams if their owners threatened to leave, like the Chicago Bears.
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