By Shelby Tuttle
A unique kind of heat is rising off the diamond as the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues of 2026 prepare to take to the field. Environmental activists are once more organizing a campaign to end ties between the fossil fuel industry and Major League Baseball.
Phillips 66 and the Dodgers
Los Angeles serves as the epicenter of the movement. The organization Dodger Fans Against Fossil Fuels is focusing its efforts on the current champions and is requesting that the team end its well-known partnership with Phillips 66. These transactions are referred to as” sportswashing,” a marketing tactic by critics that uses energy companies to burnish their corporate image and divert attention from environmental concerns.
Dodger Fans Against Fossil Fuels has been effective since 2024, starting with a letter to Dodgers owner Mark Walter, urging him to drop Phillips 66 in line with Los Angeles’s sustainability goals, and has been supported by organizations like the Sierra Club.
A Movement Across Sports
The Dodgers or perhaps MLB teams are not the only ones who are facing backlash, though. On February 17, coordinated demonstrations are planned for 11 locations throughout the nation, aimed at teams with clear sponsors in the oil and gas sector and franchises with banks that support the expansion of fossil fuels. The list of prepared protests includes:
- St. Louis Cardinals ( Phillips 66 ), Busch Stadium
- Houston Dynamo FC ( Shell ), Houston Energy Stadium,
- Austin, Q2 Stadium, and Austin FC ( Chevron )
- Mets ( Citibank ), Citi Field, New York City,
- Sacramento, Golden 1 Center, and the Sacramento Kings ( AM/PM, BP-owned )
- Boston Celtics ( Gulf Oil ), Boston, TD Garden,
- Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and the Aramco World Cup
- Philadelphia, Philadelphia Eagles ( NRG ), and Lincoln Financial Field
- Portland Timbers ( Bank of America ), Providence Park, and Portland,
- Cleveland, Progressive Field, and the Baltimore Guardians
- Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium, Dodgers ( gasp Phillips 66/76 ).
Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScUW4ruze80KQAwm9lgIyZi4f9vSCcc4N1nl1ofXPTxDhXXeg/viewform?_bhlid=d0395ec77a66bfbcd1e58463f5c01a04a120f2d5″><a href="https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/tell-the-dodgers-to-stop-greenwashing”>here to register for one of the events listed below. Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScUW4ruze80KQAwm9lgIyZi4f9vSCcc4N1nl1ofXPTxDhXXeg/viewform?_bhlid=d0395ec77a66bfbcd1e58463f5c01a04a120f2d5″><a href="https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/tell-the-dodgers-to-stop-greenwashing”>here to view and sign the initial petition Against Fossil Fuels that Dodger Fans created.
