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104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1598

To provide that professional sports teams relocating to different communities

shall lose trademark protection with respect to team names, and for

other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 7 (legislative day, MARCH 6), 1996

Mr. GLENN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide that professional sports teams relocating to different communities shall lose trademark protection with

respect to team names, 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 ‘‘Sports Heritage Act

5 of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) communities make significant public invest9 ments in order to host a professional sports team;
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1 (2) professional sports teams often remain in

2 communities for generations and their names and

3 colors become associated with the community and

4 are a source of local pride;

5 (3) the names of professional sports teams de6 velop an historical legacy within a community which

7 is passed on from generation to generation;

8 (4) the names of professional sports teams are

9 frequently linked to characteristics or histories

10 unique to the community in which the team is lo11 cated;

12 (5) relocation of professional sports teams nega13 tively impacts the economic health and development

14 of communities deprived of the jobs and revenues as15 sociated with the team and related sports industry;

16 and

17 (6) professional sports teams travel interstate

18 in order to play games and have a substantial im19 pact on interstate commerce through broadcast,

20 cable, and satellite transmission of games; through

21 marketing of uniforms, sports equipment, and asso22 ciated memorabilia; and through the food vending,

23 entertainment and the hotel industries.

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

25 For the purposes of this Act, the term—
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1 (1) ‘‘community’’ means—

2 (A) with respect to a professional sports

3 team that is a member of a league or associa4 tion described under paragraph (2) on January

5 1, 1996, the geographic area within which such

6 team operates and plays a majority of home

7 games as defined in any agreement governing

8 the relevant league or association in effect on

9 such date; and

10 (B) with respect to a professional sports

11 team that—

12 (i) is not a member of a league or as13 sociation described under paragraph (2) on

14 January 1, 1996, and

15 (ii) plays home games in an area for

16 a period of more than 10 years,

17 the geographic area within which such team op18 erates and plays a majority of home games as

19 defined in any agreement governing the relevant

20 league or association;

21 (2) ‘‘professional sports team’’ means any busi22 ness entity that is a member of—

23 (A) the American League or National

24 League of Major League Baseball;

25 (B) the National Football League;
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1 (C) the National Basketball Association; or

2 (D) the National Hockey League; and

3 (3) ‘‘team identity’’ means the name, logo, col4 ors, or any design of a professional sports team

5 which is subject to protection under the Act of July

6 5, 1946 (chapter 540) (commonly referred to as the

7 Trademark Act of 1946).

8 SEC. 4. LOSS OF TRADEMARK PROTECTION FOR RELOCAT9 ING TEAM.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—If a professional sports team relo11 cates to another community, such team may not enforce

12 any right, interest, or privilege under the Act of July 5,

13 1946 (chapter 540) (commonly referred to as the Trade14 mark Act of 1946) with respect to the team identity used

15 on the date 1 year before the date of the relocation.

16 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—This section shall not apply to

17 any professional sports team that—

18 (1) is located in a community and plays home

19 games in such community for a period of less than

20 10 years immediately preceding the date of a reloca21 tion; or

22 (2) is provided a written approval of a reloca23 tion of the team, from the chief executive officer of

24 the local government of the area in which the team’s

25 playing facility is located.
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1 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This Act shall take effect on the date of enactment

3 and shall apply only to any professional sports team that

4 relocates to another community after such date.

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