A new bill in Congress would prevent sports teams from relocating without first providing local interests with a chance to buy the team. While it seems unlikely in the current political climate that the bill will become law, it has direct relevance to the Bears.
Currently, the Bears are leveraging Indiana against Illinois in the effort to build a new domed stadium. Under the “Home Team Act,” the Indiana option would evaporate.
During a Thursday press conference, co-sponsor Greg Casar, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, called it a “keep-the-Bears-in-Chicago” bill.
“Even when teams don’t actually move, the threat of moving sets off a race to the bottom,” Casar said, via Tina Sfondeles of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Billionaire owners pit taxpayers against one another and then extort the government for billions of dollars. . . .
“We see that right now in Chicago, where Indiana taxpayers are now put in a competition against Illinois taxpayers to subsidize a team worth $8 billion. Before you move a team away from the fans who have been rooting for it their whole life, you have to give them a chance to buy it and keep it.”
The bill was introduced as a Democratic initiative. Via Eric Fisher of Front Office Sports, Casar believes the bill will eventually gather bipartisan support, and he said that there is “significant interest” from members of Congress from Illinois.
The immediate reaction by many to the proposal is that Congress has better things to do. (And, frankly, it does.)
“We have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time,” Casar said. “I’ve been very vocal about funding TSA, very vocal about reforming ICE, and very vocal about avoiding endless wars. We also want to keep the spotlight on protecting sports fans, and we’re going to do all of that.”
Still, it won’t be easy to get this one through Congress — or to get President Trump to sign it into law.
