I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 361

To designate certain conduct by sports agents relating to the signing of 

contracts with student athletes as unfair and deceptive acts or practices 

to be regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2003

Mr. GORDON (for himself, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, 

Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. 

DUNCAN, Mr. HAYES, Mr. WAMP, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. WILSON of South 

Carolina, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. RUSH, Ms. 

MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. LEACH, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. 

STEARNS, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. BURR, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. PICKERING, and Mr. 

UPTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To designate certain conduct by sports agents relating to 

the signing of contracts with student athletes as unfair 

and deceptive acts or practices to be regulated by the 

Federal Trade Commission.

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 ‘‘Sports Agent Respon5 sibility and Trust Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 As used in this Act, the following definitions apply: 

3 (1) AGENCY CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘agency 

4 contract’’ means an oral or written agreement in 

5 which a student athlete authorizes a person to nego6 tiate or solicit on behalf of the student athlete a pro7 fessional sports contract or an endorsement contract. 

8 (2) ATHLETE AGENT.—The term ‘‘athlete 

9 agent’’ means an individual who enters into an agen10 cy contract with a student athlete, or directly or in11 directly recruits or solicits a student athlete to enter 

12 into an agency contract, and does not include a 

13 spouse, parent, sibling, grandparent, or guardian of 

14 such student athlete, or an individual acting solely 

15 on behalf of a professional sports team or profes16 sional sports organization. 

17 (3) ATHLETIC DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘athletic 

18 director’’ means an individual responsible for admin19 istering the athletic program of an educational insti20 tution or, in the case that such program is adminis21 tered separately, the athletic program for male stu22 dents or the athletic program for female students, as 

23 appropriate. 

24 (4) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

25 means the Federal Trade Commission. 
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1 (5) ENDORSEMENT CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘en2 dorsement contract’’ means an agreement under 

3 which a student athlete is employed or receives con4 sideration for the use by the other party of that in5 dividual’s person, name, image, or likeness in the 

6 promotion of any product, service, or event. 

7 (6) INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORT.—The term 

8 ‘‘intercollegiate sport’’ means a sport played at the 

9 collegiate level for which eligibility requirements for 

10 participation by a student athlete are established by 

11 a national association for the promotion or regula12 tion of college athletics. 

13 (7) PROFESSIONAL SPORTS CONTRACT.—The 

14 term ‘‘professional sports contract’’ means an agree15 ment under which an individual is employed, or 

16 agrees to render services, as a player on a profes17 sional sports team, with a professional sports organi18 zation, or as a professional athlete. 

19 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes a State 

20 of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puer21 to Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any 

22 territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdic23 tion of the United States. 

24 (9) STUDENT ATHLETE.—The term ‘‘student 

25 athlete’’ means an individual who engages in, is eli-
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1 gible to engage in, or may be eligible in the future 

2 to engage in, any intercollegiate sport. An individual 

3 who is permanently ineligible to participate in a par4 ticular intercollegiate sport is not a student athlete 

5 for purposes of that sport. 

6 SEC. 3. REGULATION OF UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS 

7 AND PRACTICES IN CONNECTION WITH THE 

8 CONTACT BETWEEN AN ATHLETE AGENT AND 

9 A STUDENT ATHLETE. 

10 (a) CONDUCT PROHIBITED.—It is unlawful for an 

11 athlete agent to—

12 (1) directly or indirectly recruit or solicit a stu13 dent athlete to enter into an agency contract, by—

14 (A) giving any false or misleading informa15 tion or making a false promise or representa16 tion; or 

17 (B) providing anything of value to a stu18 dent athlete or anyone associated with the stu19 dent athlete before the student athlete enters 

20 into an agency contract; 

21 (2) enter into an agency contract with a stu22 dent athlete without providing the student athlete 

23 with the disclosure document described in subsection 

24 (b); or 

25 (3) predate or postdate an agency contract. 
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1 (b) REQUIRED DISCLOSURE BY ATHLETE AGENTS

2 TO STUDENT ATHLETES.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—In conjunction with the en4 tering into of an agency contract, an athlete agent 

5 shall provide to the student athlete, or, if the stu6 dent athlete is under the age of 18, to such student 

7 athlete’s parent or legal guardian, a disclosure docu8 ment that meets the requirements of this subsection. 

9 Such disclosure document is separate from and in 

10 addition to any disclosure which may be required 

11 under State law. 

12 (2) SIGNATURE OF STUDENT ATHLETE.—The 

13 disclosure document must be signed by the student 

14 athlete, or, if the student athlete is under the age of 

15 18, by such student athlete’s parent or legal guard16 ian, prior to entering into the agency contract. 

17 (3) REQUIRED LANGUAGE.—The disclosure doc18 ument must contain, in close proximity to the signa19 ture of the student athlete, or, if the student athlete 

20 is under the age of 18, the signature of such student 

21 athlete’s parent or legal guardian, a conspicuous no22 tice in boldface type stating: ‘‘Warning to Student 

23 Athlete: If you agree orally or in writing to be rep24 resented by an agent now or in the future you may 

25 lose your eligibility to compete as a student athlete 
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1 in your sport. Within 72 hours after entering into 

2 this contract or before the next athletic event in 

3 which you are eligible to participate, whichever oc4 curs first, both you and the agent by whom you are 

5 agreeing to be represented must notify the athletic 

6 director of the educational institution at which you 

7 are enrolled, or other individual responsible for ath8 letic programs at such educational institution, that 

9 you have entered into an agency contract.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

11 (a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRACTICE.—A 

12 violation of this Act shall be treated as a violation of a 

13 rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice pre14 scribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 

15 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

16 (b) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—The Commis17 sion shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the 

18 same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and 

19 duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the 

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

21 were incorporated into and made a part of this Act. 

22 SEC. 5. ACTIONS BY STATES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—

24 (1) CIVIL ACTIONS.—In any case in which the 

25 attorney general of a State has reason to believe 
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1 that an interest of the residents of that State has 

2 been or is threatened or adversely affected by the 

3 engagement of any athlete agent in a practice that 

4 violates section 3 of this Act, the State may bring 

5 a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State 

6 in a district court of the United States of appro7 priate jurisdiction to—

8 (A) enjoin that practice; 

9 (B) enforce compliance with this Act; 

10 (C) obtain damage, restitution, or other 

11 compensation on behalf of residents of the 

12 State; or 

13 (D) obtain such other relief as the court 

14 may consider to be appropriate. 

15 (2) NOTICE.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Before filing an action 

17 under paragraph (1), the attorney general of 

18 the State involved shall provide to the Commis19 sion—

20 (i) written notice of that action; and 

21 (ii) a copy of the complaint for that 

22 action. 

23 (B) EXEMPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall 

24 not apply with respect to the filing of an action 

25 by an attorney general of a State under this 
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1 subsection, if the attorney general determines 

2 that it is not feasible to provide the notice de3 scribed in that subparagraph before filing of the 

4 action. In such case, the attorney general of a 

5 State shall provide notice and a copy of the 

6 complaint to the Commission at the same time 

7 as the attorney general files the action. 

8 (b) INTERVENTION.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—On receiving notice under 

10 subsection (a)(2), the Commission shall have the 

11 right to intervene in the action that is the subject 

12 of the notice. 

13 (2) EFFECT OF INTERVENTION.—If the Com14 mission intervenes in an action under subsection (a), 

15 it shall have the right—

16 (A) to be heard with respect to any matter 

17 that arises in that action; and 

18 (B) to file a petition for appeal. 

19 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bringing any 

20 civil action under subsection (a), nothing in this title shall 

21 be construed to prevent an attorney general of a State 

22 from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney gen23 eral by the laws of that State to—

24 (1) conduct investigations; 

25 (2) administer oaths or affirmations; or 
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1 (3) compel the attendance of witnesses or the 

2 production of documentary and other evidence. 

3 (d) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—In any case in 

4 which an action is instituted by or on behalf of the Com5 mission for a violation of section 3, no State may, during 

6 the pendency of that action, institute an action under sub7 section (a) against any defendant named in the complaint 

8 in that action—

9 (e) VENUE.—Any action brought under subsection 

10 (a) may be brought in the district court of the United 

11 States that meets applicable requirements relating to 

12 venue under section 1391 of title 28, United States Code. 

13 (f) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action brought 

14 under subsection (a), process may be served in any district 

15 in which the defendant—

16 (1) is an inhabitant; or 

17 (2) may be found. 

18 SEC. 6. PROTECTION OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION. 

19 (a) NOTICE REQUIRED.—Within 72 hours after en20 tering into an agency contract or before the next athletic 

21 event in which the student athlete may participate, which22 ever occurs first, the athlete agent and the student athlete 

23 shall each inform the athletic director of the educational 

24 institution at which the student athlete is enrolled, or 

25 other individual responsible for athletic programs at such 
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1 educational institution, that the student athlete has en2 tered into an agency contract, and the athlete agent shall 

3 provide the athletic director with notice in writing of such 

4 a contract. 

5 (b) CIVIL REMEDY.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—An educational institution 

7 has a right of action against an athlete agent for 

8 damages caused by a violation of this Act. 

9 (2) DAMAGES.—Damages of an educational in10 stitution may include losses and expenses incurred 

11 because, as a result of the conduct of the athlete 

12 agent, the educational institution was injured by a 

13 violation of this Act or was penalized, disqualified, 

14 or suspended from participation in athletics by a na15 tional association for the promotion and regulation 

16 of athletics, by an athletic conference, or by reason17 able self-imposed disciplinary action taken to miti18 gate actions likely to be imposed by such an associa19 tion or conference. 

20 (3) COSTS AND ATTORNEYS FEES.—In an ac21 tion taken under this section, the court may award 

22 to the prevailing party costs and reasonable attor23 neys fees. 

24 (4) EFFECT ON OTHER RIGHTS, REMEDIES AND

25 DEFENSES.—This section does not restrict the 
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1 rights, remedies, or defenses of any person under 

2 law or equity. 

3 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that States should enact 

5 the Uniform Athlete Agents Act of 2000 drafted by the 

6 National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State 

7 Laws, to protect student athletes and the integrity of ama8 teur sports from unscrupulous sports agents. In par9 ticular, it is the sense of Congress that States should enact 

10 the provisions relating to the registration of sports agents, 

11 the required form of contract, the right of the student ath12 lete to cancel an agency contract, the disclosure require13 ments relating to record maintenance, reporting, renewal, 

14 notice, warning, and security, and the provisions for reci15 procity among the States.

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