The Los Angeles Dodgers wanted the focus of Opening Day to be solely about their World Series victory a few months back. However, protests from fans against owner Mark Walter tainted the game.
Dozens of LA supporters were outside Dodgers Stadium as part of a group called Dodger Fans Against Fossil Fuels, protesting the team’s sponsorship deal with Phillips 66.
Phillips 66, considered as big oil company, owns the 76 gas station, which has advertisements at Dodger Stadium.
‘And what this is, is green washing,’ group co-founder Zan Dubin told the Los Angeles Times. ‘It attempts to associate the good feelings and nostalgia and devotion we have for our beloved championship team with big oil, normalizing big oil, making us feel like it’s no big deal. And of course, we know that oil and gas and fossil fuels contribute to climate change, and we are at a crisis point.’
‘The scientists are telling us now that we have passed into the area where some effects of climate change are irreversible for centuries. We started this campaign last summer 2024 with an open letter to Mark Walter. It has now been signed by over 27,000 people.’
Dubin added that the group has the support of California Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez, with her writing a letter to Walter of her own asking to get rid of the sponsorship. The fan group, nor Gonzalez, have reportedly heard back.
The Dodgers wanted the focus of Opening Day to be solely about their World Series victory
Dozens of LA supporters were outside Dodgers Stadium as part of a protesting group
Dodger Fans Against Fossil Fuels wants team owner Mark Walter to stop showcasing big oil
The group’s co-founder, Lisa Kaas Boyle, was not at Thursday’s Opening Day game as her house was lost in the LA wildfires and she lived in Pacific Palisades.
‘We also know, scientists have already told us the fires were worsened by climate change,’ Dubin added. ‘We are here for climate change and really to urge the Dodgers to do the right thing.’
Los Angeles is one of the sports hubs of the country, if not the world, with a few big-time events coming to Hollywood over the next few years.
The World Cup comes to North America next year, with Los Angeles being a host city. The United States men’s national team has two of its three group games in nearby Inglewood at SoFi Stadium.
Dubin points out that FIFA has a sponsorship deal with Saudi Aramco oil. The Summer Olympics will also be in Los Angeles in 2028.
‘So my question is, when the Olympics come to LA, is Dodger Stadium going to be a shining example of sustainability, or a billboard for big oil?’ Dubin concluded.
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