The state Senate and House will consider a proposal that would require Florida professional sports teams receiving government assistance to play the U.S. national anthem before every home game. Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, filed a measure Thursday (SB 1298) that would prohibit government agencies from entering agreements with professional teams without written verification that the anthem would be played.
The proposal, similar to a measure (HB 499) filed Nov. 4 by Rep. Tommy Gregory, R-Sarasota, seeks to ensure the anthem would be played before such things as preseason, regular-season and post-season professional baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer and football games. Also, the requirement would apply to NASCAR and IndyCar events held in venues with at least 75,000 permanent seats and Professional Golfers’ Association events.
Failure to play the anthem could lead to teams or venues being required to repay government money they received. The proposal mirrors a Texas law, dubbed the Star Spangled Banner Protection Act, that went into effect in September. The Texas law came after Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban quietly made a decision in November 2020 to stop playing the anthem before his team’s home games.
Senate Bill 1298, National Anthems at Games:
Click to access sb1298-2022-national-anthem.pdf
Judy says
Sounds like a wonderful idea to me!!
joe says
Enforced or mandated “patriotism” is no such thing… What next, enforced books to read? Oh, wait! The rightists here in Flagler are already attempting to ban books- is burning them next?
This is like the Christians who so “offended” when the clerk says “Happy Holidays”, to which my questions is:
Is your faith that weak that you take offense because they don’t parrot your “Merry Christmas”?
Same here…. is your patriotism so weak and shallow that you need to make everyone sing the National Anthem?
Judy says
I think they should play “OUR” National Anthem at the games. If you choose not to stand or sing along, that’s your business. I’m a proud patriotic American whose father fought in WWII and husband fought in Vietnam. I understand and I’m not offended that a clerk wishes not to offend non-Christians by saying “Happy Holidays”. As a Christian I choose to say Merry Christmas. It is you that seem to have a problem. God bless America and hope you enjoy the holiday season and have a happy, healthy and blessed New Year!
Chris says
Judy, just because you think they should do something doesn’t give the government the right to force them to do so. This law would violate the first amendment of the Constitution. If you’re the patriot you say you are, you should care more about that than the anthem.
Lemac says
My only question is why is the government subsidizing sports teams? Actually, I thought all sporting events, professional or school already played the national anthem, which I agree with. However, if the government has to bribe someone to play it, it really doesn’t mean anything.
flatsflyer says
Why in the hell would the state be paying anything to any sporting team. Sounds like it should be the other way around. Sporting events disrupt traffic, damage infrastructure and only make team owners rich while paying part time minimum wage jobs for workers. The state should charge a franchise fee to all teams or at least share in the gross revenue they create. Most are setup as not for profit charitable organizations to avoid any and all taxes while paying the greedy owners outlandish profits. Mean while they usually get the public to build and renovate their facilities.