March 26, 2026
Mr. Sanders (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mr. Murphy) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
To keep professional sports franchises in their home communities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Home Team Act of 2026
.
Sec. 2. Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
Professional sports franchises have a significant economic and cultural impact on their local communities.
(2)
The relocation of a professional sports franchise abandons the home community and fan base of the franchise that is largely responsible for the growth and development of the franchise.
(3)
The use of public funds, through a negotiated relocation or threat to relocate of a professional sports franchise, to pay for new sports stadiums have a substantial and detrimental effect on State and local governments and their taxpayers.
(4)
The building of a stadium to secure a franchise in their new community may displace local residents with little consideration to their needs.
(5)
Article I, section 8, clause 3 of the Constitution of the United States grants Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce.
(6)
Professional sports franchises have a substantial and direct effect upon interstate commerce because—
(A)
professional sports games are broadcast on television and streamed around the country and across the world;
(B)
visiting teams and fan bases travel from State to State to compete in or watch games, purchasing tickets for travel, lodging, food, and other items; and
(C)
American professional sports leagues, recognizing the interstate nature of the revenues generated by the professional sports business, have agreed to revenue sharing models, whereby the revenue generated from a local game is shared amongst all the sports franchises in the league across States and for Canadian sports franchises as well.
Sec. 3. Prohibition on community ownership bans and opportunity to purchase
(a) Prohibition
A league, operating in or affecting interstate commerce, may not, as part of league requirements or agreements—
(1)
prohibit ownership of a franchise by a government entity or members of the general public; or
(2)
prohibit the transfer of a franchise to a government entity or members of the general public.
(b) Opportunity To purchase
(1) In general
In accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3), a franchise owner may not move the franchise from their home community, move the franchise across State lines, or eliminate the franchise unless the franchise owner offers an entity specified in paragraph (2) a fair opportunity to purchase such franchise.
(2) Priority
A fair opportunity to purchase a franchise pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be provided, in descending priority, to the following entities:
(A)
A local government entity or a home community cooperative.
(B)
A nonprofit organization that operates in the community or a public-private partnership composed of a local government entity or State government entity with a home community cooperative or nonprofit organization headquartered in such unit of local government or State.
(C)
A private person, private consortium, or company that resides in the community or operates in the community.
(3) Fair opportunity
In carrying out this subsection, a franchise owner shall—
(A)
provide proper notice regarding the proposed new location of the franchise or proposed franchise elimination;
(B)
offer the franchise for purchase for fair market value; and
(C)
accept an offer made by an entity described under paragraph (2) if that offer is the amount that is a fair price as determined under subsection (c) or more than that amount.
(c) Appraisers
(1) Appraisers
The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish a team of professionally trained appraisers to evaluate a fair price for a franchise.
(2) Deduction
The evaluation of a fair price undertaken pursuant to paragraph (1) shall deduct from the appraisal amount the total amount of any government payment, credit, or subsidy provided for the construction of any stadium where the franchise played the majority of their home games.
(d) Enforcement
(1) Civil penalty
The Attorney General shall assess against a franchise owner in violation of this section a fine of $30,000 for each day the owner is in violation of this section.
(2) Private right of action
A unit of local government or a State may bring a civil action for violation of this section in an appropriate district court against a franchise owner for injunctive and monetary relief.
(e) Rule of construction
(1) In general
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt, diminish, or interfere with the right of employees to collectively bargain over terms and conditions of employment.
(2) Existing agreements
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt, diminish, or interfere with a collective bargaining agreement that is in place on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(f) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Community
The term community, with respect to a franchise, means the metropolitan statistical area, as determined by the Office of Management and Budget, in which the franchise plays the greatest number of regular season home games within its league.
(2) Consortium
The term consortium means a group of private investors created specifically for a particular transaction of acquiring a sports franchise.
(3) Franchise
The term franchise means a member professional sports team of a league.
(4) Franchise owner
The term franchise owner means a person who owns a franchise.
(5) Home community cooperative
The term home community cooperative, with respect to a franchise, means an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise that is based in the community in which the franchise plays the greatest number of regular season home games within its league.
(6) League
The term league includes the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, the Women's National Basketball Association, and the National Women’s Soccer League.
(7) Local government entity
The term local government entity, with respect to a franchise, means any unit of local government with jurisdiction over land use decisions in the location in which the franchise plays the greatest number of regular season home games within its league.
(8) Nonprofit organization
The term nonprofit organization means any organization registered as a public charity by the Internal Revenue Service.
(9) Private company
The term private company means a business entity the securities of which do not trade on public markets.
(10) Proper notice
The term proper notice, with respect to proposed relocation or elimination of a franchise, means notice that is provided not later than one year prior to the commencement of the season in which the franchise is to play home games in the proposed new location or the date of franchise elimination to all interested parties, the news media, and on all social media platforms of the franchise, and includes—
(A)
identification of the proposed new home location, if applicable;
(B)
a summary of the reasons for the proposed relocation or franchise elimination; and
(C)
the date on which the proposed relocation or franchise elimination would be effective.
(11) Social media platform
The term social media platform means a website or internet medium that—
(A)
permits a person to become a registered user, establish an account, or create a profile for the purpose of allowing users to create, share, and view user-generated content through such an account or profile;
(B)
enables one or more users to generate content that can be viewed by other users of the website or medium; and
(C)
primarily serves as a medium for users to interact with content generated by other users of the website or medium.