A banking executive and minor league baseball team owner launched an effort to help save various teams by hiring lobbyists to secure federal Covid relief funds as the new season gets under way.
Greg Rosenbaum, who owns a Cincinnati Reds farm team, is the executive pushing the effort.
Minor league baseball, which represents over 100 teams across the country, was hammered by the coronavirus pandemic last year as it canceled its season.
A report by Sportico noted that minor league baseball clubs combined lost $800 million in revenue last year alone. Baseball America reported in March that minor league clubs were shut out of receiving Covid relief money in the $1.9 trillion package recently signed into law by President Joe Biden.
CNBC discovered Rosenbaum’s involvement in the effort after reviewing a lobbying disclosure report signed this month that lists the address for his Maryland-based investment firm, Palisades Associates, as the address of the client. The Rosenbaum-listed business on the lobbying registration form is Minor League Baseball Relief, Inc.
The lobbying report shows that the Rosenbaum-led venture registered lobbyists in April from the influential firm Akin, Gump, Strauss. Ed Pagano, one of the lobbyists listed on the registration form, has experience working in former President Barack Obama’s White House. Another has direct ties to former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan.
The focus of the lobbying campaign, according to the registration report, is “emergency assistance for Minor League Baseball Clubs impacted by Covid-19.” It remains unclear how much the lobbyists will be seeking from the federal government.
The form does not say whether the lobbyists will engage with Biden’s administration or Congress. None of them responded to CNBC’s requests for comment.
Jeff Lantz, a spokesman for Minor League Baseball, said it’s his understanding that multiple teams are involved with the effort, but he referred CNBC to Rosenbaum for further comment.
Although Rosenbaum declined to provide further details, including how much the campaign is going to cost, he did not deny his involvement or that he is leading this effort. “We do not have anything further to provide beyond what appears in the lobbying disclosure filing,” he said in an email to CNBC on Thursday.
A spokesman for Major League Baseball did not respond to a request for comment.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/03/banking-exec-funds-lobbying-effort-to-get-minor-league-baseball-covid-relief.html