Calendar No. 161

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 305

[Report No. 106–83]

A BILL

To reform unfair and anticompetitive practices in

the professional boxing industry.

JUNE 21, 1999

Reported with amendments
II

Calendar No. 161

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 305

[Report No. 106–83]

To reform unfair and anticompetitive practices in the professional boxing

industry.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 25, 1999

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. BRYAN, Mr. DORGAN, and Mr. ABRAHAM) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

JUNE 21, 1999

Reported by Mr. LOTT (for Mr. MCCAIN) with amendments

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To reform unfair and anticompetitive practices in the

professional boxing industry.

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 ‘‘Muhammad Ali Boxing

5 Reform Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) Professional boxing differs from other

4 major, interstate professional sports industries in

5 the United States in that it operates without any

6 private sector association, league, or centralized in7 dustry organization to establish uniform and appro8 priate business practices and ethical standards. This

9 has led to repeated occurrences of disreputable and

10 coercive business practices in the boxing industry, to

11 the detriment of professional boxers nationwide.

12 (2) Professional boxers are vulnerable to ex13 ploitative business practices engaged in by certain

14 promoters and sanctioning bodies which dominate

15 the sport. Boxers do not have an established rep16 resentative group to advocate for their interests and

17 rights in the industry.

18 (3) State officials are the proper regulators of

19 professional boxing events, and must protect the wel20 fare of professional boxers and serve the public in21 terest by closely supervising boxing activity in their

22 jurisdiction. State boxing commissions do not cur23 rently receive adequate information to determine

24 whether boxers competing in their jurisdiction are

25 being subjected to contract terms and business prac-
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1 tices which may be violative of State regulations, or

2 are onerous and confiscatory.

3 (4) Promoters who engage in illegal, coercive,

4 or unethical business practices can take advantage

5 of the lack of equitable business standards in the

6 sport by holding boxing events in states with weaker

7 regulatory oversight.

8 (5) The sanctioning organizations which have

9 proliferated in the boxing industry have not estab10 lished credible and objective criteria to rate profes11 sional boxers, and operate with virtually no industry

12 or public oversight. Their ratings are susceptible to

13 manipulation, have deprived boxers of fair opportu14 nities for advancement, and have undermined public

15 confidence in the integrity of the sport.

16 (6) Open competition in the professional boxing

17 industry has been significantly interfered with by re18 strictive and anti-competitive business practices of

19 certain promoters and sanctioning bodies, to the det20 riment of the athletes and the ticket-buying public.

21 Common practices of promoters and sanctioning or22 ganizations represent restraints of interstate trade

23 in the United States.

24 (7) It is necessary and appropriate to establish

25 national contracting reforms to protect professional
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1 boxers and prevent exploitative business practices,

2 and to require enhanced financial disclosures to

3 State athletic commissions to improve the public

4 oversight of the sport.

5 (8) Whereas the Congress seeks to improve the

6 integrity and ensure fair practices of the profes7 sional boxing industry on a nationwide basis, it

8 deems it appropriate to name this reform in honor

9 of Muhammad Ali, whose career achievements and

10 personal contributions to the sport, and positive im11 pact on our society, are unsurpassed in the history

12 of boxing.

13 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

14 The purposes of this Act are—

15 (1) to protect the rights and welfare of profes16 sional boxers by preventing certain exploitative, op17 pressive, and unethical business practices they may

18 be subject to on an interstate basis;

19 (2) to assist State boxing commissions in their

20 efforts to provide more effective public oversight of

21 the sport; and

22 (3) to promoting honorable competition in pro23 fessional boxing and enhance the overall integrity of

24 the industry.
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1 SEC 4. PROTECTING BOXERS FROM EXPLOITATION.

2 The Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15

3 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by—

4 (1) redesignating section 15 as 16; and

5 (2) inserting after section 14 the following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 15. PROTECTION FROM EXPLOITATION.

7 ‘‘(a) CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any contract between a

9 boxer and a promoter or manager shall—

10 ‘‘(A) include mutual obligations between

11 the parties;

12 ‘‘(B) specify a minimum number of profes13 sional boxing matches per year for the boxer;

14 and

15 ‘‘(C) set forth a specific period of time

16 during which the contract will be in effect, in17 cluding any provision for extension of that pe18 riod due to the boxer’s temporary inability to

19 compete because of an injury or other cause.

20 ‘‘(2) 1-YEAR LIMIT ON COERCIVE PROMOTIONAL

21 RIGHTS.—

22 ‘‘(A) The period of time for which pro23 motional rights to promote a boxer may be

24 granted under a contract between the boxer and

25 a promoter, or between promoters with respect

26 to a boxer, may not be greater than 12 months
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1 in length if the boxer is required to grant such

2 rights, or a boxer’s promoter is required to

3 grant such rights with respect to a boxer, as a

4 condition precedent to the boxer’s participation

5 in a professional boxing match against another

6 boxer who is under contract to the promoter.

7 ‘‘(B) A promoter exercising promotional

8 rights with respect to such boxer during the 12-

9 month period beginning on the day after the

10 last day of the promotional right period de11 scribed in subparagraph (A) may not secure ex12 clusive promotional rights from the boxer’s op13 ponents as a condition of participating in a pro14 fessional boxing match against the boxer during

15 that period, and any contract to the contrary—

16 ‘‘(i) shall be considered to be in re17 straint of trade and contrary to public pol18 icy; and

19 ‘‘(ii) unenforceable.

20 ‘‘(C) Nothing in this paragraph shall be

21 construed as pre-empting any State law con22 cerning interference with contracts.

23 ‘‘(3) PROMOTIONAL RIGHTS UNDER MANDA24 TORY BOUT CONTRACTS.—Neither a promoter nor a

25 sanctioning organization may require a boxer, in a
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1 contract arising from a professional boxing match

2 that is a mandatory bout under the rules of the

3 sanctioning organization, to grant promotional rights

4 to any promoter for a future professional boxing

5 match.

6 ‘‘(b) EMPLOYMENT AS CONDITION OF PROMOTING,

7 ETC.—No person who is a licensee, manager, match8 maker, or promoter may require a boxer to employ, retain,

9 or provide compensation to any individual or business en10 terprise (whether operating in corporate form or not) rec11 ommended or designated by that person as a condition

12 of—

13 ‘‘(1) such person’s working with the boxer as a

14 licensee, manager, matchmaker, or promoter;

15 ‘‘(2) such person’s arranging for the boxer to

16 participate in a professional boxing match; or

17 ‘‘(3) such boxer’s participation in a professional

18 boxing match.

19 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT.—

20 ‘‘(1) PROMOTION AGREEMENT.—A provision in

21 a contract between a promoter and a boxer, or be22 tween promoters with respect to a boxer, that vio23 lates subsection (a) is contrary to public policy and

24 unenforceable at law.
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1 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT.—In any ac2 tion brought against a boxer to recover money

3 (whether as damages or as money owed) for acting

4 as a licensee, manager, matchmaker, or promoter for

5 the boxer, the court, arbitrator, or administrative

6 body before which the action is brought may deny

7 recovery in whole or in part under the contract as

8 contrary to public policy if the employment, reten9 tion, or compensation that is the subject of the ac10 tion was obtained in violation of subsection (b).’’.

11 (b) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—Section 9 of such Act

12 (15 U.S.C. 6308) is amended by—

13 (1) striking ‘‘No member’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)

14 REGULATORY PERSONNEL.—No member’’; and

15 (2) adding at the end thereof the following:

16 ‘‘(b) FIREWALL BETWEEN PROMOTERS AND MAN17 AGERS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for—

19 ‘‘(A) a promoter to have a direct or indi20 rect financial interest in the management of a

21 boxer; or

22 ‘‘(B) a manager—

23 ‘‘(A) a boxer’s promoter (or a promoter who

24 is required to be licensed under State law) to

25 have a direct or indirect financial interest in
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1 that boxer’s licensed manager or management

2 company; or

3 ‘‘(B) a licensed manager or management

4 company (or a manager or management com5 pany that, under State law, is required to be li6 censed)—

7 ‘‘(i) to have a direct or indirect finan8 cial interest in the promotion of a boxer; or

9 ‘‘(ii) to be employed by or receive

10 compensation or other benefits from a pro11 moter,

12 except for amounts received as consideration

13 under the manager’s contract with the boxer.

14 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR SELF-PROMOTION AND

15 MANAGEMENT.—Paragraph (1) does not prohibit a

16 boxer from acting as his own promoter or man17 ager.’’.

18 SEC. 5. SANCTIONING ORGANIZATION INTEGRITY RE19 FORMS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Professional Boxing Safety

21 Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended by sec22 tion 4 of this Act, is amended by—

23 (1) redesignating section 16, as redesignated by

24 section 4 of this Act, as section 17; and

25 (2) by inserting after section 15 the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 16. SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.

2 ‘‘(a) OBJECTIVE CRITERIA.—A sanctioning organiza3 tion that sanctions professional boxing matches on an

4 interstate basis shall establish objective and consistent

5 written criteria for the ratings of professional boxers.

6 ‘‘(b) APPEALS PROCESS.—A sanctioning organization

7 shall establish and publish an appeals procedure that af8 fords a boxer rated by that organization a reasonable op9 portunity, without the payment of any fee, to submit infor10 mation to contest its rating of the boxer. Under the proce11 dure, the sanctioning organization shall, within 14 days

12 after receiving a request from a boxer questioning that

13 organization’s rating of the boxer—

14 ‘‘(1) provide to the boxer a written explanation

15 of the organization’s criteria, its rating of the boxer,

16 and the rationale or basis for its rating (including

17 any response to any specific questions submitted by

18 the boxer); and

19 ‘‘(2) submit a copy of its explanation to the

20 President of the Association of Boxing Commissions

21 of the United States and to the boxing commission

22 of the boxer’s domiciliary State.

23 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE IN RATING.—If a

24 sanctioning organization changes its rating of a boxer who

25 is included, before the change, in the top 10 boxers rated

26 by that organization, or who, as a result of the change is
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1 included in the top 10 boxers rated by that organization,

2 then, within 14 days after changing the boxer’s rating,

3 the organization shall—

4 ‘‘(1) mail notice of the change and a written ex5 planation of the reasons for its change in that box6 er’s rating to the boxer at the boxer’s last known ad7 dress;

8 ‘‘(2) post a copy, within the 14-day period, of

9 the notice and the explanation on its Internet

10 website or homepage, if any, for a period of not less

11 than 30 days; and

12 ‘‘(3) mail a copy of the notice and the expla13 nation to the President of the Association of Boxing

14 Commissions.

15 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—

16 ‘‘(1) FTC FILING.—Not later than January

17 31st of each year, a sanctioning organization shall

18 submit to the Federal Trade Commission—

19 ‘‘(A) a complete description of the organi20 zation’s ratings criteria, policies, and general

21 sanctioning fee schedule;

22 ‘‘(B) the bylaws of the organization;

23 ‘‘(C) the appeals procedure of the organi24 zation; and
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1 ‘‘(D) a list and business address of the or2 ganization’s officials who vote on the ratings of

3 boxers.

4 ‘‘(2) FORMAT; UPDATES.—A sanctioning orga5 nization shall—

6 ‘‘(A) provide the information required

7 under paragraph (1) in writing, and, for any

8 document greater than 2 pages in length, also

9 in electronic form; and

10 ‘‘(B) promptly notify the Federal Trade

11 Commission of any material change in the in12 formation submitted.

13 ‘‘(3) FTC TO MAKE INFORMATION AVAILABLE

14 TO PUBLIC.—The Federal Trade Commission shall

15 make information received under this subsection

16 available to the public. The Commission may assess

17 sanctioning organizations a fee to offset the costs it

18 incurs in processing the information and making it

19 available to the public.

20 ‘‘(4) INTERNET ALTERNATIVE.—In lieu of sub21 mitting the information required by paragraph (1)

22 to the Federal Trade Commission, a sanctioning or23 ganization may provide the information to the public

24 by maintaining a website on the Internet that—
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1 ‘‘(A) is readily accessible by the general

2 public using generally available search engines

3 and does not require a password or payment of

4 a fee for full access to all the information;

5 ‘‘(B) contains all the information required

6 to be submitted to the Federal Trade Commis7 sion by paragraph (1) in a easy to search and

8 use format; and

9 ‘‘(C) is updated whenever there is a mate10 rial change in the information.’’.

11 (b) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—Section 9 of such Act

12 (15 U.S.C. 6308), as amended by section 4 of this Act,

13 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

14 ‘‘(c) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.—

15 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON RECEIPTS.—Except as

16 provided in paragraph (2), no officer or employee of

17 a sanctioning organization may receive any com18 pensation, gift, or benefit directly or indirectly from

19 a promoter, boxer, or manager.

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) does not

21 apply to—

22 ‘‘(A) the receipt of payment by a promoter,

23 boxer, or manager of a sanctioning organiza24 tion’s published fee for sanctioning a profes25 sional boxing match or reasonable expenses in
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1 connection therewith if the payment is reported

2 to the responsible boxing commission under sec3 tion 17; or

4 ‘‘(B) the receipt of a gift or benefit of de

5 minimis value.’’.

6 (c) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—Sec7 tion 2 of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15

8 U.S.C. 6301) is amended by adding at the end thereof

9 the following:

10 ‘‘(11) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATION.—The term

11 ‘sanctioning organization’ means an organization

12 that ranks boxers or sanctions professional boxing

13 matches in the United States—

14 ‘‘(A) between boxers who are residents of

15 different States; or

16 ‘‘(B) that are advertised, otherwise pro17 moted, or broadcast (including closed circuit

18 television) in interstate commerce.’’.

19 SEC. 6. PUBLIC INTEREST DISCLOSURES TO STATE BOXING

20 COMMISSIONS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Professional Boxing Safety

22 Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended by sec23 tion 5 of this Act, is amended by—

24 (1) redesignating section 17, as redesignated by

25 section 5 of this Act, as section 18; and
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1 (2) by inserting after section 16 the following:

2 ‘‘SEC. 17. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES TO STATE BOXING COM3 MISSIONS.

4 ‘‘(a) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.—Before sanc5 tioning sanctioning or authorizing a professional boxing

6 match in a State, a sanctioning organization shall provide

7 to the boxing commission of, or responsible for sanctioning

8 regulating matches in, that State a written statement of—

9 ‘‘(1) all charges, fees, and costs the organiza10 tion will assess any boxer participating in that

11 match;

12 ‘‘(2) all payments, benefits, complimentary ben13 efits, and fees the organization will receive for its af14 filiation with the event, from the promoter, host of

15 the event, and all other sources; and

16 ‘‘(3) such additional information as the commis17 sion may require.

18 A sanctioning organization that receives compensation from

19 any source to refrain from exercising its authority or juris20 diction over, or withholding its sanction of, a professional

21 boxing match in any State shall provide the information

22 required by paragraphs (2) and (3) to the boxing commis23 sion of that State.

24 ‘‘(b) PROMOTERS.—Before a professional boxing

25 match organized, promoted, or produced by a promoter
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1 is held in a State, the promoter shall provide a statement

2 in writing to the boxing commission of, or responsible for

3 sanctioning regulating matches in, that State—

4 ‘‘(1) a copy of any agreement in writing to

5 which the promoter is a party with any boxer par6 ticipating in the match;

7 ‘‘(2) a statement in writing made under penalty

8 of perjury that there are no other agreements, writ9 ten or oral, between the promoter and the boxer with

10 respect to that match; and

11 ‘‘(3) a statement in writing of—

12 ‘‘(A) all fees, charges, and expenses that

13 will be assessed by or through the promoter on

14 the boxer pertaining to the event, including any

15 portion of the boxer’s purse that the promoter

16 will receive, and training expenses; and

17 ‘‘(B) all payments, gift, or benefits the

18 promoter is providing to any sanctioning orga19 nization affiliated with the event. event; and

20 ‘‘(C) any reduction in the amount or per21 centage of a boxer’s purse after—

22 ‘‘(i) a previous agreement concerning

23 the amount or percentage of that purse has

24 been reached between the promoter and the

25 boxer; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) a purse bid held for the event.

2 ‘‘(c) JUDGES.—Before participating in a professional

3 boxing match as a judge in any State, an individual shall

4 provide to the boxing commission of, or responsible for regu5 lating matches in, that State a statement in writing of all

6 payments, including reimbursement for expenses, and any

7 other benefits that individual will receive from any source

8 for judging that match.

9 ‘‘(c) (d) INFORMATION TO BE AVAILABLE TO STATE

10 ATTORNEY GENERAL.—A promoter shall make informa11 tion received under this section available to the chief law

12 enforcement officer of the State in which the match is to

13 be held upon request.

14 ‘‘(d) (e) EXCEPTION.—The requirements of this sec15 tion do not apply in connection with a professional boxing

16 match scheduled to last less than 10 rounds.’’. rounds.

17 ‘‘(f) CONFIDENTIALITY OF AGREEMENTS.—Neither a

18 boxing commission nor an Attorney General may disclose

19 to the public any matter furnished by a promoter under

20 subsection (b)(1) or subsection (d) except to the extent re21 quired in public legal, administrative, or judicial pro22 ceedings brought against that promoter under State law.’’.

23 SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT.

24 Section 10 of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of

25 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6309) is amended by—
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1 (1) inserting a comma and ‘‘other than section

2 9(b), 15, 16, or 17,’’ after ‘‘this Act’’ in subsection

3 (b)(1);

4 (2) redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) of

5 subsection (b) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respec6 tively, and inserting after paragraph (1) the fol7 lowing:

8 ‘‘(2) VIOLATION OF ANTI-EXPLOITATION, SANC9 TIONING ORGANIZATION, OR DISCLOSURE PROVI10 SIONS.—Any person who knowingly violates any pro11 vision of section 9(b), 15, 16, or 17 of this Act shall,

12 upon conviction, be imprisoned for not more than 1

13 year or fined not more than—

14 ‘‘(A) $100,000; and

15 ‘‘(B) if the violations occur in connection

16 with a professional boxing match the gross rev17 enues for which exceed $2,000,000, such addi18 tional amount as the court finds appropriate,

19 or both.’’; and

20 (3) adding at the end thereof the following:

21 ‘‘(c) ACTIONS BY STATES.—Whenever the chief law

22 enforcement officer of any State has reason to believe that

23 a person or organization is engaging in practices which

24 violate any requirement of this Act, the State, as parens
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1 patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of its residents

2 in an appropriate district court of the United States—

3 ‘‘(1) to enjoin the holding of any professional

4 boxing match which the practice involves;

5 ‘‘(2) to enforce compliance with this Act;

6 ‘‘(3) to obtain the fines provided under sub7 section (b) or appropriate restitution; or

8 ‘‘(4) to obtain such other relief as the court

9 may deem appropriate.

10 ‘‘(d) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any boxer who

11 suffers economic injury as a result of a violation of any

12 provision of this Act may bring an action in the appro13 priate Federal or State court and recover the damages suf14 fered, court costs, and reasonable attorneys fees and ex15 penses.’’.

16 SEC. 8. PROFESSIONAL BOXING SAFETY ACT AMENDMENTS.

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the Professional

18 Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301), as amended

19 by section 5(c) of this Act, is amended by adding at the

20 end thereof the following:

21 ‘‘(12) SUSPENSION.—The term ‘suspension’ in22 cludes within its meaning the revocation of a boxing

23 license.’’.

24 (b) RENEWAL PERIOD FOR IDENTIFICATION CARDS.—

25 Section 6(b)(2) of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of
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1 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6305(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘2

2 years.’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years.’’.

3 (b) (c) STATE BOXING COMMISSION PROCEDURES.—

4 Section 7(a)(2) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 6306(a)(2)) is

5 amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ in subparagraph (C);

7 (2) by striking ‘‘documents.’’ at the end of sub8 paragraph (D) and inserting ‘‘documents; or’’; and

9 (3) adding at the end thereof the following:

10 ‘‘(E) unsportsmanlike conduct or other in11 appropriate behavior inconsistent with generally

12 accepted methods of competition in a profes13 sional boxing match.’’.