IIB 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 361

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 5, 2003

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sports Agent Respon3 sibility and Trust Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

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

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

7 contract’’ means an oral or written agreement in 

8 which a student athlete authorizes a person to nego9 tiate or solicit on behalf of the student athlete a pro10 fessional sports contract or an endorsement contract. 

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

12 agent’’ means an individual who enters into an agen13 cy contract with a student athlete, or directly or in14 directly recruits or solicits a student athlete to enter 

15 into an agency contract, and does not include a 

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

17 such student athlete, any legal counsel for purposes 

18 other than that of representative agency, or an indi19 vidual acting solely on behalf of a professional sports 

20 team or professional sports organization. 

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

22 director’’ means an individual responsible for admin23 istering the athletic program of an educational insti24 tution or, in the case that such program is adminis25 tered separately, the athletic program for male stu-
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1 dents or the athletic program for female students, as 

2 appropriate. 

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

4 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

5 (5) ENDORSEMENT CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘en6 dorsement contract’’ means an agreement under 

7 which a student athlete is employed or receives con8 sideration for the use by the other party of that in9 dividual’s person, name, image, or likeness in the 

10 promotion of any product, service, or event. 

11 (6) INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORT.—The term 

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

13 collegiate level for which eligibility requirements for 

14 participation by a student athlete are established by 

15 a national association for the promotion or regula16 tion of college athletics. 

17 (7) PROFESSIONAL SPORTS CONTRACT.—The 

18 term ‘‘professional sports contract’’ means an agree19 ment under which an individual is employed, or 

20 agrees to render services, as a player on a profes21 sional sports team, with a professional sports organi22 zation, or as a professional athlete. 

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

24 of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puer25 to Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any 
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1 territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdic2 tion of the United States. 

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

4 athlete’’ means an individual who engages in, is eli5 gible to engage in, or may be eligible in the future 

6 to engage in, any intercollegiate sport. An individual 

7 who is permanently ineligible to participate in a par8 ticular intercollegiate sport is not a student athlete 

9 for purposes of that sport. 

10 SEC. 3. REGULATION OF UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS 

11 AND PRACTICES IN CONNECTION WITH THE 

12 CONTACT BETWEEN AN ATHLETE AGENT AND 

13 A STUDENT ATHLETE. 

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

15 athlete agent to—

16 (1) directly or indirectly recruit or solicit a stu17 dent athlete to enter into an agency contract, by—

18 (A) giving any false or misleading informa19 tion or making a false promise or representa20 tion; or 

21 (B) providing anything of value to a stu22 dent athlete or anyone associated with the stu23 dent athlete before the student athlete enters 

24 into an agency contract, including any consider25 ation in the form of a loan, or acting in the ca-
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1 pacity of a guarantor or co-guarantor for any 

2 debt; 

3 (2) enter into an agency contract with a stu4 dent athlete without providing the student athlete 

5 with the disclosure document described in subsection 

6 (b); or 

7 (3) predate or postdate an agency contract. 

8 (b) REQUIRED DISCLOSURE BY ATHLETE AGENTS

9 TO STUDENT ATHLETES.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In conjunction with the en11 tering into of an agency contract, an athlete agent 

12 shall provide to the student athlete, or, if the stu13 dent athlete is under the age of 18, to such student 

14 athlete’s parent or legal guardian, a disclosure docu15 ment that meets the requirements of this subsection. 

16 Such disclosure document is separate from and in 

17 addition to any disclosure which may be required 

18 under State law. 

19 (2) SIGNATURE OF STUDENT ATHLETE.—The 

20 disclosure document must be signed by the student 

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

22 18, by such student athlete’s parent or legal guard23 ian, prior to entering into the agency contract. 

24 (3) REQUIRED LANGUAGE.—The disclosure doc25 ument must contain, in close proximity to the signa-
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1 ture of the student athlete, or, if the student athlete 

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

3 athlete’s parent or legal guardian, a conspicuous no4 tice in boldface type stating: ‘‘Warning to Student 

5 Athlete: If you agree orally or in writing to be rep6 resented by an agent now or in the future you may 

7 lose your eligibility to compete as a student athlete 

8 in your sport. Within 72 hours after entering into 

9 this contract or before the next athletic event in 

10 which you are eligible to participate, whichever oc11 curs first, both you and the agent by whom you are 

12 agreeing to be represented must notify the athletic 

13 director of the educational institution at which you 

14 are enrolled, or other individual responsible for ath15 letic programs at such educational institution, that 

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

17 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

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

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

20 rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice pre21 scribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 

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

23 (b) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—The Commis24 sion shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the 

25 same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and 
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1 duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the 

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

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

4 SEC. 5. ACTIONS BY STATES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—

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

7 attorney general of a State has reason to believe 

8 that an interest of the residents of that State has 

9 been or is threatened or adversely affected by the 

10 engagement of any athlete agent in a practice that 

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

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

13 in a district court of the United States of appro14 priate jurisdiction to—

15 (A) enjoin that practice; 

16 (B) enforce compliance with this Act; or 

17 (C) obtain damage, restitution, or other 

18 compensation on behalf of residents of the 

19 State. 

20 (2) NOTICE.—

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

22 under paragraph (1), the attorney general of 

23 the State involved shall provide to the Commis24 sion—

25 (i) written notice of that action; and 
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1 (ii) a copy of the complaint for that 

2 action. 

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

4 not apply with respect to the filing of an action 

5 by an attorney general of a State under this 

6 subsection, if the attorney general determines 

7 that it is not feasible to provide the notice de8 scribed in that subparagraph before filing of the 

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

10 State shall provide notice and a copy of the 

11 complaint to the Commission at the same time 

12 as the attorney general files the action. 

13 (b) INTERVENTION.—

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

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

16 right to intervene in the action that is the subject 

17 of the notice. 

18 (2) EFFECT OF INTERVENTION.—If the Com19 mission intervenes in an action under subsection (a), 

20 it shall have the right—

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

22 that arises in that action; and 

23 (B) to file a petition for appeal. 

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

25 civil action under subsection (a), nothing in this title shall 
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1 be construed to prevent an attorney general of a State 

2 from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney gen3 eral by the laws of that State to—

4 (1) conduct investigations; 

5 (2) administer oaths or affirmations; or 

6 (3) compel the attendance of witnesses or the 

7 production of documentary and other evidence. 

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

9 which an action is instituted by or on behalf of the Com10 mission for a violation of section 3, no State may, during 

11 the pendency of that action, institute an action under sub12 section (a) against any defendant named in the complaint 

13 in that action. 

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

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

16 States that meets applicable requirements relating to 

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

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

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

20 in which the defendant—

21 (1) is an inhabitant; or 

22 (2) may be found. 

23 SEC. 6. PROTECTION OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION. 

24 (a) NOTICE REQUIRED.—Within 72 hours after en25 tering into an agency contract or before the next athletic 
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1 event in which the student athlete may participate, which2 ever occurs first, the athlete agent and the student athlete 

3 shall each inform the athletic director of the educational 

4 institution at which the student athlete is enrolled, or 

5 other individual responsible for athletic programs at such 

6 educational institution, that the student athlete has en7 tered into an agency contract, and the athlete agent shall 

8 provide the athletic director with notice in writing of such 

9 a contract. 

10 (b) CIVIL REMEDY.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—An educational institution 

12 has a right of action against an athlete agent for 

13 damages caused by a violation of this Act. 

14 (2) DAMAGES.—Damages of an educational in15 stitution may include and are limited to actual losses 

16 and expenses incurred because, as a result of the 

17 conduct of the athlete agent, the educational institu18 tion was injured by a violation of this Act or was pe19 nalized, disqualified, or suspended from participation 

20 in athletics by a national association for the pro21 motion and regulation of athletics, by an athletic 

22 conference, or by reasonable self-imposed discipli23 nary action taken to mitigate actions likely to be im24 posed by such an association or conference. 
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1 (3) COSTS AND ATTORNEYS FEES.—In an ac2 tion taken under this section, the court may award 

3 to the prevailing party costs and reasonable attor4 neys fees. 

5 (4) EFFECT ON OTHER RIGHTS, REMEDIES AND

6 DEFENSES.—This section does not restrict the 

7 rights, remedies, or defenses of any person under 

8 law or equity. 

9 SEC. 7. LIMITATION. 

10 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit an 

11 individual from seeking any remedies available under ex12 isting Federal or State law or equity. 

13 SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

14 It is the sense of Congress that States should enact 

15 the Uniform Athlete Agents Act of 2000 drafted by the 

16 National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State 

17 Laws, to protect student athletes and the integrity of ama18 teur sports from unscrupulous sports agents. In par19 ticular, it is the sense of Congress that States should enact 

20 the provisions relating to the registration of sports agents, 

21 the required form of contract, the right of the student ath22 lete to cancel an agency contract, the disclosure require23 ments relating to record maintenance, reporting, renewal, 
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1 notice, warning, and security, and the provisions for reci2 procity among the States.

Passed the House of Representatives June 4, 2003. 

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk.