Opening Day for the 2025 season looked a little different than anticipated for the 2024 World Series Champions. During the celebration of their World Series Championship and before the first pitch of the season, dozens of Dodgers fans joined one another in protest.
These fans gathered in protest of one of the team’s sponsors, Phillips 66, a company that is linked to fossil fuel giant 76.[1] The group behind the demonstration, “Dodgers Fans Against Fossil Fuels”, accused the team and their ownership of “greenwashing” by partnering with major oil companies and prominently displaying their branding throughout Dodger Stadium.[2] The demonstrations consisted of signs and flyers that called out team owner Mark Walter for what the group calls a betrayal of environmental responsibility. The campaign started this past summer with an open letter to Walter that had over 27,000 signatures.[3]
The groups co-founder explained that the issue is bigger than sports branding, but rather it is about the role that institutions like the Dodgers play in shaping values.[4] While the Dodgers have not publicly addressed the issue, the pressure to end their partnership with Phillips 66 is not going to end. With high profile events coming to the area in the coming years such as the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, the environmental scrutiny surrounding venues such as Dodger Stadium is only expected to get worse.
The Dodgers are no stranger to protesters attending their games. In the early summer of 2023 protestors with “stop anti-Catholic hate” and “God will not be mocked” signs surrounded the entrance to Dodger Stadium accusing the team of insulting their faith. The controversy started after the team invited, then disinvited, then re-invited the Sisters to the team’s 10th annual Pride night.[5] The Sisters, which started in the 1970s to support people with HIV/AIDs, had been at the forefront of LGBTQ rights activism when they were invited to the event.
The invitation infuriated many conservative Catholics, such as Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, who both called it offensive and a mockery.[6] The team did apologize to the groups, as well as the LGBTQ community at large, which prompted them to re-invite the Sisters.[7] With the Dodgers back in the spotlight again surrounded by another controversy, it will be interesting to see how they respond with demonstrations only anticipated to grow.
Image Credit: https://sports.yahoo.com/protesters-shut-down-dodger-stadium-main-gate-on-pride-night-031753499.html
[1] https://sports.yahoo.com/article/dodgers-fans-protest-opening-day-203000600.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAG2BMVD9y1QPpLbFu0YAoGLVNlz7q7UkFYLXww9PIUhBCl-ijwqVxvn4qLibldPS-4hTVvD-LUHvC3YSyaij8z5ZF41OWeNB0ulzpZhtngsAxyMNk4r0ITPxVZt1JyNwoAG4GYs4yUKxj-Po9CzUNRx-c23cF_jbFDVeYSq82YVe
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/religious-protesters-gather-dodger-stadium-pride-night-rcna89848
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
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