"The Axios Show": Sanders takes aim at billionaire owners for making sports unaffordable
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said his office is "going to get involved" with billionaire sports owners making games unaffordable for many families, during a conversation with Axios' Alex Thompson on the fourth episode of "The Axios Show."
- Sanders didn't explain further, and spokesperson Anna Bahr declined to comment when asked.
Zoom in: Sanders made the comment when asked by Thompson about his thoughts on the LA Dodgers being in the World Series.
- The Senator grew up as a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers, which moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season.
- The club's current ownership group is led by billionaire Mark Walter, and its $181 median ticket price this year was the highest in Major League Baseball.
What Sanders said: "My office is going to get involved in this ... It does really bother me that with billionaire ownership of almost every major team in America ... that they charge these outrageous prices and it becomes a corporate type of activity. They have all these great boxes for their rich and famous friends ...
- "When I was mayor of Burlington, we brought minor league baseball back into Burlington and I wanted to be municipally owned. And we lost the city council, I think by a voter or two ... I'm not crazy about corporate and billionaire ownership of not only the LA Dodgers, but of virtually every major team."
The bottom line: As valuations for sports teams set new records, and ticket prices do too, team owners are becoming an easy target for populist ire.
