I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2740

To protect sports fans and communities throughout the Nation, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 7, 1995

Mr. HOKE (for himself, Mr. BLUTE, Mr. CREMEANS, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr.

FLANAGAN, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HOBSON,

Mr. JONES, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. KING, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. LIPINSKI,

Mr. MEEHAN, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Ms. MOLINARI, Mr. NEY, Mr.

OXLEY, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. PORTMAN, Ms. PRYCE, Mr.

QUINN, Mr. SCARBOROUGH, and Mr. TRAFICANT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in

addition to the Committee on Commerce, for a period to be subsequently

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To protect sports fans and communities throughout the

Nation, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fan Freedom and

5 Community Protection Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds the following:

3 (1) The name of a professional sports team is

4 always linked to the name of the community in

5 which it is located.

6 (2) Communities, sports fans, and taxpayers

7 make a substantial and valuable financial, psycho8 logical, and emotional investment in their teams and

9 their teams’ names.

10 (3) Professional sports teams promote civic

11 pride, and generate jobs, revenues, and other local

12 economic development.

13 (4) Professional sports teams remain in com14 munities for generations and represent much more

15 than a business.

16 (5) Current law does not protect the rights of

17 sports fans nor the interests of communities when a

18 professional sports team decides to relocate.

19 (6) Professional sports team owners are posi20 tioned to extract enormous benefits from commu21 nities, and they are taking advantage of these oppor22 tunities.

23 (7) Professional sports teams and leagues have

24 directly benefited from Federal legislation, including

25 the following:
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1 (A) Public law 87–331 (15 U.S.C. 1291 et

2 seq; commonly referred to as the Sports Anti3 trust Broadcast Act of 1961).

4 (B) Public law 89–800 (80 Stat. 1508;

5 commonly referred to as the Football Merger

6 Act of 1966).

7 (C) Public law 93–107 (87 Stat. 350; re8 lating to a prohibition of local television black9 outs of network games which were sold out 72

10 hours in advance).

11 (D) Federal tax laws that allow deprecia12 tion of player contracts, capital gains, carryover

13 losses, and the formation of Subchapter S cor14 porations.

15 (8) The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

16 ruled in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commis17 sion v. National Football League (726 F.2d 1381

18 (9th cir. 1984); commonly referred to as Raiders I),

19 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission v. Na20 tional Football League (791 F.2d. 1356 (9th cir.

21 1986); commonly referred to as Raiders II), and Na22 tional Basketball Association v. SDC Basketball

23 Club, Inc. (815 F.2d 562 (9th cir. 1987); commonly

24 referred to as Clippers) that a league has the au25 thority to prevent a professional sports team from
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1 relocating from one community to another commu2 nity.

3 SEC. 3. TEAM NAME.

4 (a) CONDITIONS ON APPROVAL OF RELOCATION.—

5 In a case in which a league approves the relocation of a

6 professional sports team from a community described in

7 subsection (b)—

8 (1) the registered mark that is used to identify

9 the professional sports team becomes the property of

10 the league;

11 (2) the league shall reserve the registered mark

12 and any portion of the registered mark for use only

13 by the community from which the team is relocating

14 until the earlier of—

15 (A) the expiration of the registered mark;

16 or

17 (B) the date on which the community in18 forms the league that a professional sports

19 team will not be using the registered mark; and

20 (3) the registered mark or any portion of the

21 registered mark may not be used by another profes22 sional sports team in the same league.

23 (b) COMMUNITIES COVERED.—A community referred

24 to in subsection (a) is a community in which a professional
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1 sports team has been located for a period of at least 10

2 years.

3 SEC. 4. NOTICE OF PROPOSED RELOCATION OF A PROFES4 SIONAL SPORTS TEAM.

5 (a) REQUIREMENT.—A professional sports team

6 owner seeking to relocate the team from one community

7 to another shall provide notice of the proposed relocation

8 to the parties listed in subsection (b) not later than 180

9 days before the commencement of the season in which the

10 professional sports team is to play in the new community.

11 (b) PARTIES.—The notice required under subsection

12 (a) shall be provided to—

13 (1) the local government for the community in

14 which the professional sports team’s stadium or

15 arena is located;

16 (2) the owner or operator of such stadium or

17 arena; and

18 (3) each professional sports team that is a

19 member of the league for the professional sport con20 cerned.

21 (c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The notice re22 quired under subsection (a) shall—

23 (1) be delivered in person or by certified mail;
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1 (2) be published in one or more newspapers of

2 general circulation within the community in which

3 the professional sports team is located; and

4 (3) contain an identification of the proposed

5 new location for the professional sports team, a sum6 mary of the reasons for moving the professional

7 sports team based on the factors listed in section 7,

8 and the date on which the proposed change is sched9 uled to become effective.

10 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT TO MAKE EXPANSION TEAMS AVAIL11 ABLE TO COMMUNITIES UPON THE FULFILL12 MENT OF CERTAIN CONDITIONS.

13 (a) LEAGUE REQUIREMENT TO GRANT FRAN14 CHISE.—Not later than 12 months after the submission

15 of the name of an investor under subsection (b) to a

16 league, the league shall grant to the investor a new expan17 sion professional sports team franchise from the league

18 at a fee in an amount no greater than an amount equal

19 to 85 percent of the franchise fee charged by the league

20 for the last expansion professional sports team franchise

21 granted by the league.

22 (b) THREE-YEAR OPPORTUNITY FOR INVEST23 MENT.—The requirement of subsection (a) applies to a

24 league in any case in which—
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1 (1) the league approves, on or after January 1,

2 1993, the relocation of a professional sports team

3 from one community to another;

4 (2) not later than three years after such reloca5 tion, the community in which the team was pre6 viously located submits to the league the name of an

7 investor to be granted a new professional sports

8 team franchise in such community by the league;

9 and

10 (3) the investor demonstrates that he is finan11 cially able to purchase and support a team by plac12 ing the amount described under subsection (a), in

13 addition to an amount equal to the sale price of the

14 last professional sports team sale approved by the

15 league, in an escrow account.

16 (c) TEN-YEAR RELOCATION PROHIBITION.—In the

17 case of a grant of a professional sports team franchise

18 under subsection (a), the league may approve a resale of

19 the team, but may not approve a relocation of the team

20 during the ten-year period beginning on the date of the

21 grant of the expansion professional sports team franchise.

22 (d) EXCEPTION.—This section shall not apply in the

23 case of a community with a professional sports team if

24 the team relocates within 60 miles of the community.
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1 SEC. 6. LEAGUE RELOCATION AUTHORITY AND RELOCA2 TION DETERMINATION CRITERIA.

3 (a) LEAGUE AUTHORITY.—It is not unlawful by rea4 son of the antitrust laws for a professional sports league

5 to enforce rules or agreements authorizing the member6 ship of such league to decide whether a professional sports

7 team that is a member of the league may relocate from

8 one community to another.

9 (b) DETERMINATION CRITERIA.—In determining

10 whether to approve or disapprove the relocation of a pro11 fessional sports team from one community to another, a

12 league shall make specific findings regarding—

13 (1) the extent to which fan loyalty to and sup14 port for the team has been demonstrated during the

15 team’s tenure in the community;

16 (2) the degree to which the team has engaged

17 in good faith negotiations with appropriate persons

18 concerning terms and conditions under which the

19 team would continue to play its games in the com20 munity;

21 (3) the degree to which the owners or managers

22 of the team have contributed to any circumstances

23 which might demonstrate the need for the relocation;

24 (4) the extent to which the team, directly or in25 directly, received public financial support by means

26 of any publicly financed playing facility, special tax
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1 treatment, or any other form of public financial sup2 port;

3 (5) the adequacy of the stadium in which the

4 team played its home games in the previous season,

5 and the willingness of the stadium, arena authority,

6 or the local government to remedy any deficiencies

7 in such facility;

8 (6) whether the team has incurred net operat9 ing losses, exclusive of depreciation and amortiza10 tion, sufficient to threaten the continued financial vi11 ability of the team;

12 (7) whether any other team in the league is lo13 cated in the community in which the team is cur14 rently located;

15 (8) whether the team proposes to relocate to a

16 community in which no other team in the league is

17 located;

18 (9) whether the stadium authority, if public, is

19 not opposed to such relocation; and

20 (10) whether there is a bona fide investor offer21 ing fair market value for the professional sports

22 team and will retain the team in the current commu23 nity.
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1 SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT.

2 (a) PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY.—A league

3 that violates the requirement of section 5(a) by failing to

4 grant a new professional sports team franchise—

5 (1) is liable to the community in which the

6 team was previously located for damages equal to

7 three times the purchase price of the team; and

8 (2) is subject to the suspension for one season

9 of its antitrust exemption for pooling the broadcast10 ing rights to games under Public Law 87–331 (15

11 U.S.C. 1291 et seq.).

12 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COM13 MISSION.—The provisions of this Act shall be enforced by

14 the Federal Trade Commission under the Federal Trade

15 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).

16 SEC. 8. INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN MATTERS.

17 Nothing in this Act shall—

18 (1) alter, determine, or otherwise affect the ap19 plicability or inapplicability of the antitrust laws, the

20 labor laws, or any other provision of law to the

21 wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of em22 ployment of players in any professional sports

23 league, to any employment matter regarding players

24 in any such league or to any collective bargaining

25 rights and privilege of any player union in any such

26 league;
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1 (2) alter or affect the applicability or inapplica2 bility of the antitrust laws or any applicable Federal

3 or State law regarding broadcasting or telecasting,

4 including those contained under section 1291 of title

5 15, United States Code, to any agreement between

6 any professional sports league or a professional

7 sports team that is a member of the league and any

8 person not affiliated with such a league for the

9 broadcasting or telecasting of the games of such

10 league or members of the league on any form of tele11 vision;

12 (3) affect any contract, or provision of a con13 tract, relating to the use of a stadium or arena be14 tween a professional sports team and the owner or

15 operator of any stadium or arena or any other per16 son;

17 (4) exempt from the antitrust laws any agree18 ment to fix the prices of admission to sports con19 tests;

20 (5) exempt from the antitrust laws any preda21 tory practice or other conduct with respect to com22 peting sports leagues which would otherwise be un23 lawful under the antitrust laws; or

24 (6) except as provided in this Act, alter, deter25 mine, or otherwise affect the applicability or inappli-
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1 cability of the antitrust laws to any act, contract,

2 agreement, rule, course of conduct, or other activity

3 by, between, or among persons engaging in, conduct4 ing, or participating in professional football, basket5 ball, hockey, or baseball.

6 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of this Act:

8 (1) ANTITRUST LAWS.—The term ‘‘antitrust

9 laws’’—

10 (A) has the meaning giving it in subsection

11 (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act (15

12 U.S.C. 12(a)), except that such term includes

13 section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act

14 (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent such section ap15 plies to unfair methods of competition; and

16 (B) includes any State law similar to the

17 laws referred to in subparagraph (A).

18 (2) COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘community’’

19 means a city, county, parish, town, township, village,

20 or any other general function governmental unit es21 tablished by State law.

22 (3) INVESTOR.—The term ‘‘investor’’ means

23 any person or group of persons, including a commu24 nity.
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1 (4) LEAGUE.—The terms ‘‘league’’ and ‘‘profes2 sional sports league’’ mean an association composed

3 of two or more professional sports teams (which

4 have been engaged in competition in their sport for

5 more than seven years) which has adopted, accepted,

6 or put into effect rules for the conduct of profes7 sional sports teams which are members of that asso8 ciation and for the regulation of contests and exhibi9 tions in which such teams regularly engage. The

10 term includes—

11 (A) the National Football League;

12 (B) the National Hockey League;

13 (C) the National Basketball Association;

14 and

15 (D) Major League Baseball.

16 (5) LOCATED.—The term ‘‘located’’, with re17 spect to a professional sports team, means situated

18 in the stadium or arena in which the professional

19 sports team plays its home games.

20 (6) PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAM.—The term

21 ‘‘professional sports team’’ means any group of pro22 fessional athletes organized to play major league

23 football, hockey, basketball, or baseball.
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1 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This Act takes effect as of August 1, 1995.

Æ