II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 305

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 and Mr. BRYAN) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

Transportation

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) Professional boxing differs from other

9 major, interstate professional sports industries in

10 the United States in that it operates without any
2

S 305 IS

1 private sector association, league, or centralized in2 dustry organization to establish uniform and appro3 priate business practices and ethical standards. This

4 has led to repeated occurrences of disreputable and

5 coercive business practices in the boxing industry, to

6 the detriment of professional boxers nationwide.

7 (2) Professional boxers are vulnerable to ex8 ploitative business practices engaged in by certain

9 promoters and sanctioning bodies which dominate

10 the sport. Boxers do not have an established rep11 resentative group to advocate for their interests and

12 rights in the industry.

13 (3) State officials are the proper regulators of

14 professional boxing events, and must protect the wel15 fare of professional boxers and serve the public in16 terest by closely supervising boxing activity in their

17 jurisdiction. State boxing commissions do not cur18 rently receive adequate information to determine

19 whether boxers competing in their jurisdiction are

20 being subjected to contract terms and business prac21 tices which may be violative of State regulations, or

22 are onerous and confiscatory.

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

24 or unethical business practices can take advantage

25 of the lack of equitable business standards in the
3

S 305 IS

1 sport by holding boxing events in states with weaker

2 regulatory oversight.

3 (5) The sanctioning organizations which have

4 proliferated in the boxing industry have not estab5 lished credible and objective criteria to rate profes6 sional boxers, and operate with virtually no industry

7 or public oversight. Their ratings are susceptible to

8 manipulation, have deprived boxers of fair opportu9 nities for advancement, and have undermined public

10 confidence in the integrity of the sport.

11 (6) Open competition in the professional boxing

12 industry has been significantly interfered with by re13 strictive and anti-competitive business practices of

14 certain promoters and sanctioning bodies, to the det15 riment of the athletes and the ticket-buying public.

16 Common practices of promoters and sanctioning or17 ganizations represent restraints of interstate trade

18 in the United States.

19 (7) It is necessary and appropriate to establish

20 national contracting reforms to protect professional

21 boxers and prevent exploitative business practices,

22 and to require enhanced financial disclosures to

23 State athletic commissions to improve the public

24 oversight of the sport.
4

S 305 IS

1 (8) Whereas the Congress seeks to improve the

2 integrity and ensure fair practices of the profes3 sional boxing industry on a nationwide basis, it

4 deems it appropriate to name this reform in honor

5 of Muhammad Ali, whose career achievements and

6 personal contributions to the sport, and positive im7 pact on our society, are unsurpassed in the history

8 of boxing.

9 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

10 The purposes of this Act are—

11 (1) to protect the rights and welfare of profes12 sional boxers by preventing certain exploitative, op13 pressive, and unethical business practices they may

14 be subject to on an interstate basis;

15 (2) to assist State boxing commissions in their

16 efforts to provide more effective public oversight of

17 the sport; and

18 (3) to promote honorable competition in profes19 sional boxing and enhance the overall integrity of

20 the industry.

21 SEC. 4. PROTECTING BOXERS FROM EXPLOITATION.

22 The Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15

23 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by—

24 (1) redesignating section 15 as 16; and

25 (2) inserting after section 14 the following:
5

S 305 IS

1 ‘‘SEC. 15. PROTECTION FROM EXPLOITATION.

2 ‘‘(a) CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.—

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

4 boxer and a promoter or manager shall—

5 ‘‘(A) include mutual obligations between

6 the parties;

7 ‘‘(B) specify a minimum number of profes8 sional boxing matches per year for the boxer;

9 and

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

11 during which the contract will be in effect, in12 cluding any provision for extension of that pe13 riod due to the boxer’s temporary inability to

14 compete because of an injury or other cause.

15 ‘‘(2) 1-YEAR LIMIT ON COERCIVE PROMOTIONAL

16 RIGHTS.—

17 ‘‘(A) The period of time for which pro18 motional rights to promote a boxer may be

19 granted under a contract between the boxer and

20 a promoter, or between promoters with respect

21 to a boxer, may not be greater than 12 months

22 in length if the boxer is required to grant such

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

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

25 condition precedent to the boxer’s participation
6

S 305 IS

1 in a professional boxing match against another

2 boxer who is under contract to the promoter.

3 ‘‘(B) A promoter exercising promotional

4 rights with respect to such boxer during the 12-

5 month period beginning on the day after the

6 last day of the promotional right period de7 scribed in subparagraph (A) may not secure ex8 clusive promotional rights from the boxer’s op9 ponents as a condition of participating in a pro10 fessional boxing match against the boxer, and

11 any contract to the contrary—

12 ‘‘(i) shall be considered to be in re13 straint of trade and contrary to public pol14 icy; and

15 ‘‘(ii) unenforceable.

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

17 construed as pre-empting any State law con18 cerning interference with contracts.

19 ‘‘(3) PROMOTIONAL RIGHTS UNDER MANDA20 TORY BOUT CONTRACTS.—Neither a promoter nor a

21 sanctioning organization may require a boxer, in a

22 contract arising from a professional boxing match

23 that is a mandatory bout under the rules of the

24 sanctioning organization, to grant promotional rights
7

S 305 IS

1 to any promoter for a future professional boxing

2 match.

3 ‘‘(b) EMPLOYMENT AS CONDITION OF PROMOTION,

4 ETC.—No person who is a licensee, manager, match5 maker, or promoter may require a boxer to employ, retain,

6 or provide compensation to any individual or business en7 terprise (whether operating in corporate form or not) rec8 ommended or designated by that person as a condition

9 of—

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

11 licensee, manager, matchmaker, or promoter;

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

13 participate in a professional boxing match; or

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

15 boxing match.

16 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT.—

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

18 a contract between a promoter and a boxer, or be19 tween promoters with respect to a boxer, that vio20 lates subsection (a) is contrary to public policy and

21 unenforceable at law.

22 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT.—In any ac23 tion brought against a boxer to recover money

24 (whether as damages or as money owned) for acting

25 as a licensee, manager, matchmaker, or promoter for
8

S 305 IS

1 the boxer, the court, arbitrator, or administrative

2 body before which the action is brought may deny

3 recovery in whole or in part under the contract as

4 contrary to public policy if the employment, reten5 tion, or compensation that is the subject of the ac6 tion was obtained in violation of subsection (b).’’.

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

8 (15 U.S.C. 6308) is amended by—

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

10 REGULATORY PERSONNEL.—No member’’; and

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

12 ‘‘(b) FIREWALL BETWEEN PROMOTERS AND MAN13 AGERS.—

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

15 ‘‘(A) a promoter to have a direct or indi16 rect financial interest in the management of a

17 boxer; or

18 ‘‘(B) a manager—

19 ‘‘(i) to have a direct or indirect finan20 cial interest in the promotion of a boxer; or

21 ‘‘(ii) to be employed by or receive

22 compensation or other benefits from a pro23 moter,

24 except for amounts received as consideration

25 under the manager’s contract with the boxer.
9

S 305 IS

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

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

3 boxer from acting as his own promoter or man4 ager.’’.

5 SEC. 5. SANCTIONING ORGANIZATION INTEGRITY RE6 FORMS.

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

8 Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended by sec9 tion 4 of this Act, is amended by—

10 (1) redesignating section 16, as redesignated by

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

12 (2) by inserting after section 15 the following:

13 ‘‘SEC. 16. SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.

14 ‘‘(a) OBJECTIVE CRITERIA.—A sanctioning organiza15 tion that sanctions professional boxing matches on an

16 interstate basis shall establish objective and consistent

17 written criteria for the ratings of professional boxers.

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

19 shall establish and publish an appeals procedure that af20 fords a boxer rated by that organization a reasonable op21 portunity, without the payment of any fee, to submit infor22 mation to contest its rating of the boxer. Under the proce23 dure, the sanctioning organization shall, within 14 days

24 after receiving a request from a boxer questioning that

25 organization’s rating of the boxer—
10

S 305 IS

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

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

3 and the rationale or basis for its rating (including

4 a response to any specific questions submitted by the

5 boxer); and

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

7 President of the Association of Boxing Commissions

8 of the United States and to the boxing commission

9 of the boxer’s domiciliary State.

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

11 sanctioning organization changes its rating of a boxer who

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

13 by that organization, then, within 14 days after changing

14 the boxer’s rating, the organization shall—

15 ‘‘(1) mail notice of the change and a written ex16 planation of the reasons for its change in that box17 er’s rating to the boxer at the boxer’s last known ad18 dress;

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

20 the notice and the explanation on its Internet

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

22 than 30 days; and

23 ‘‘(3) mail a copy of the notice and the expla24 nation to the President of the Association of Boxing

25 Commissions.
11

S 305 IS

1 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—

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

3 31st of each year, a sanctioning organization shall

4 submit to the Federal Trade Commission—

5 ‘‘(A) a complete description of the organi6 zation’s ratings criteria, policies, and general

7 sanctioning fee schedule;

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

9 ‘‘(C) the appeals procedure of the organi10 zation; and

11 ‘‘(D) a list and business address of the or12 ganization’s officials who vote on the ratings of

13 boxers.

14 ‘‘(2) FORMAT; UPDATES.—A sanctioning orga15 nization shall—

16 ‘‘(A) provide the information required

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

18 document greater than 2 pages in length, also

19 in electronic form; and

20 ‘‘(B) promptly notify the Federal Trade

21 Commission of any material change in the in22 formation submitted.

23 ‘‘(3) FTC TO MAKE INFORMATION AVAILABLE

24 TO PUBLIC.—The Federal Trade Commission shall

25 make information received under this subsection
12

S 305 IS

1 available to the public. The Commission may assess

2 sanctioning organizations a fee to offset the costs it

3 incurs in processing the information and making it

4 available to the public.

5 ‘‘(4) INTERNET ALTERNATIVE.—In lieu of sub6 mitting the information required by paragraph (1)

7 to the Federal Trade Commission, a sanctioning or8 ganization may provide the information to the public

9 by maintaining a website on the Internet that—

10 ‘‘(A) is readily accessible by the general

11 public using generally available search engines

12 and does not require a password or payment of

13 a fee for full access to all the information;

14 ‘‘(B) contains all the information required

15 to be submitted to the Federal Trade Commis16 sion by paragraph (1) in an easy to search and

17 use format; and

18 ‘‘(C) is updated whenever there is a mate19 rial change in the information.’’.

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

21 (15 U.S.C. 6308), as amended by section 4 of this Act,

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

23 ‘‘(c) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.—

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

25 provided in paragraph (2), no officer or employee of
13

S 305 IS

1 a sanctioning organization may receive any com2 pensation, gift, or benefit directly or indirectly from

3 a promoter, boxer, or manager.

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

5 apply to—

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

7 boxer, or manager of a sanctioning organiza8 tion’s published fee for sanctioning a profes9 sional boxing match or reasonable expenses in

10 connection therewith if the payment is reported

11 to the responsible boxing commission under sec12 tion 17; or

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

14 minimis value.’’.

15 (c) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—Sec16 tion 2 of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15

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

18 the following:

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

20 ‘sanctioning organization’ means an organization

21 that sanctions professional boxing matches in the

22 United States—

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

24 different States; or
14

S 305 IS

1 ‘‘(B) that are advertised, otherwise pro2 moted, or broadcast (including closed circuit

3 television) in interstate commerce.’’.

4 SEC. 6. PUBLIC INTEREST DISCLOSURES TO STATE BOXING

5 COMMISSIONS.

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

7 Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended by sec8 tion 5 of this Act, is amended by—

9 (1) redesignating section 17 as redesignated by

10 section 5 of this Act, as section 18; and

11 (2) by inserting after section 16 the following:

12 ‘‘SEC. 17. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES TO STATE BOXING COM13 MISSIONS.

14 ‘‘(a) SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.—Before sanc15 tioning a professional boxing match in a State, a sanction16 ing organization shall provide to the boxing commission

17 of, or responsible for sanctioning matches in, that State

18 a written statement of—

19 ‘‘(1) all charges, fees, and costs the organiza20 tion will assess any boxer participating in that

21 match;

22 ‘‘(2) all payments, benefits, complimentary ben23 efits, and fees the organization will receive for its af24 filiation with the event, from the promoter, host of

25 the event, and all other sources; and
15

S 305 IS

1 ‘‘(3) such additional information as the commis2 sion may require.

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

4 match organized, promoted, or produced by a promoter

5 is held in a State, the promoter shall provide a statement

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

7 sanctioning matches in, that State—

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

9 which the promoter is a party with any boxer par10 ticipating in the match;

11 ‘‘(2) a statement made under penalty of perjury

12 that there are no other agreements, written or oral,

13 between the promoter and the boxer with respect to

14 that match; and

15 ‘‘(3) a statement in writing of—

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

17 will be assessed by or through the promoter on

18 the boxer pertaining to the event, including any

19 portion of the boxer’s purse that the promoter

20 will receive, and training expenses; and

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

22 promoter is providing to any sanctioning orga23 nization affiliated with the event.

24 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION TO BE AVAILABLE TO STATE AT25 TORNEY GENERAL.—A promoter shall make information
16

S 305 IS

1 received under this section available to the chief law en2 forcement officer of the State in which the match is to

3 be held upon request.

4 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION.—The requirements of this section

5 do not apply in connection with a professional boxing

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

7 SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT.

8 Section 10 of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of

9 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6309) is amended by—

10 (1) inserting a comma and ‘‘other than section

11 9(b), 15, 16, or 17,’’ after ‘‘this Act’’ in subsection

12 (b)(1);

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

14 subsection (b) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respec15 tively, and inserting after paragraph (1) the follow16 ing:

17 ‘‘(2) VIOLATION OF ANTI-EXPLOITATION, SANC18 TIONING ORGANIZATION, OR DISCLOSURE PROVI19 SIONS.—Any person who knowingly violates any pro20 vision of section 9(b), 15, 16, or 17 of this Act shall,

21 upon conviction, be imprisoned for not more than 1

22 year or fined not more than—

23 ‘‘(A) $100,000; and

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

25 with a professional boxing match the gross rev-
17

S 305 IS

1 enues for which exceed $2,000,000, such addi2 tional amount as the court finds appropriate,

3 or both.’’; and

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

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

6 enforcement officer of any State has reason to believe that

7 a person or organization is engaging in practices which

8 violate any requirement of this Act, the State, as parens

9 patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of its residents

10 in an appropriate district court of the United States—

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

12 boxing match which the practice involves;

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

14 ‘‘(3) to obtain the fines provided under sub15 section (b) or appropriate restitution; or

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

17 may deem appropriate.

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

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

20 provision of this Act may bring an action in the appro21 priate Federal or State court and recover the damages suf22 fered, court costs, and reasonable attorneys fees and ex23 penses.’’.
18

S 305 IS

1 SEC. 8. PROFESSIONAL BOXING SAFETY ACT AMENDMENTS.

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

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

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

5 end thereof the following:

6 ‘‘(12) SUSPENSION.—The term ‘suspension’ in7 cludes within its meaning the revocation of a boxing

8 license.’’.

9 (b) STATE BOXING COMMISSION PROCEDURES.—

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

11 amended—

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

13 (2) by striking ‘‘documents.’’ at the end of sub14 paragraph (D) and inserting ‘‘documents; or’’; and

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

16 ‘‘(E) unsportsmanlike conduct or other in17 appropriate behavior inconsistent with generally

18 accepted methods of competition in a profes19 sional boxing match.’’.

Æ