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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1832 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.1832

                       One Hundred Sixth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
             the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand

                                 An Act

 
   To reform unfair and anticompetitive practices in the professional 
                            boxing industry.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
        (1) Professional boxing differs from other major, interstate 
    professional sports industries in the United States in that it 
    operates without any private sector association, league, or 
    centralized industry organization to establish uniform and 
    appropriate business practices and ethical standards. This has led 
    to repeated occurrences of disreputable and coercive business 
    practices in the boxing industry, to the detriment of professional 
    boxers nationwide.
        (2) State officials are the proper regulators of professional 
    boxing events, and must protect the welfare of professional boxers 
    and serve the public interest by closely supervising boxing 
    activity in their jurisdiction. State boxing commissions do not 
    currently receive adequate information to determine whether boxers 
    competing in their jurisdiction are being subjected to contract 
    terms and business practices which may violate State regulations, 
    or are onerous and confiscatory.
        (3) Promoters who engage in illegal, coercive, or unethical 
    business practices can take advantage of the lack of equitable 
    business standards in the sport by holding boxing events in States 
    with weaker regulatory oversight.
        (4) The sanctioning organizations which have proliferated in 
    the boxing industry have not established credible and objective 
    criteria to rate professional boxers, and operate with virtually no 
    industry or public oversight. Their ratings are susceptible to 
    manipulation, have deprived boxers of fair opportunities for 
    advancement, and have undermined public confidence in the integrity 
    of the sport.
        (5) Open competition in the professional boxing industry has 
    been significantly interfered with by restrictive and 
    anticompetitive business practices of certain promoters and 
    sanctioning bodies, to the detriment of the athletes and the 
    ticket-buying public. Common practices of promoters and sanctioning 
    organizations represent restraints of interstate trade in the 
    United States.
        (6) It is necessary and appropriate to establish national 
    contracting reforms to protect professional boxers and prevent 
    exploitive business practices, and to require enhanced financial 
    disclosures to State athletic commissions to improve the public 
    oversight of the sport.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
        (1) to protect the rights and welfare of professional boxers on 
    an interstate basis by preventing certain exploitive, oppressive, 
    and unethical business practices;
        (2) to assist State boxing commissions in their efforts to 
    provide more effective public oversight of the sport; and
        (3) to promote honorable competition in professional boxing and 
    enhance the overall integrity of the industry.

SEC. 4. PROTECTING BOXERS FROM EXPLOITATION.

    The Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) 
is amended--
        (1) by redesignating sections 9 through 15 as sections 17 
    through 23, respectively; and
        (2) by inserting after section 8 the following new sections:

``SEC. 9. CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.

    ``Within 2 years after the date of the enactment of the Muhammad 
Ali Boxing Reform Act, the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) 
shall develop and shall approve by a vote of no less than a majority of 
its member State boxing commissioners, guidelines for minimum 
contractual provisions that should be included in bout agreements and 
boxing contracts. It is the sense of the Congress that State boxing 
commissions should follow these ABC guidelines.

``SEC. 10. PROTECTION FROM COERCIVE CONTRACTS.

    ``(a) General Rule.--
        ``(1)(A) A contract provision shall be considered to be in 
    restraint of trade, contrary to public policy, and unenforceable 
    against any boxer to the extent that it--
            ``(i) is a coercive provision described in subparagraph (B) 
        and is for a period greater than 12 months; or
            ``(ii) is a coercive provision described in subparagraph 
        (B) and the other boxer under contract to the promoter came 
        under that contract pursuant to a coercive provision described 
        in subparagraph (B).
        ``(B) A coercive provision described in this subparagraph is a 
    contract provision that grants any rights between a boxer and a 
    promoter, or between promoters with respect to a boxer, if the 
    boxer is required to grant such rights, or a boxer's promoter is 
    required to grant such rights with respect to a boxer to another 
    promoter, as a condition precedent to the boxer's participation in 
    a professional boxing match against another boxer who is under 
    contract to the promoter.
        ``(2) This subsection shall only apply to contracts entered 
    into after the date of the enactment of the Muhammad Ali Boxing 
    Reform Act.
        ``(3) No subsequent contract provision extending any rights or 
    compensation covered in paragraph (1) shall be enforceable against 
    a boxer if the effective date of the contract containing such 
    provision is earlier than 3 months before the expiration of the 
    relevant time period set forth in paragraph (1).
    ``(b) Promotional Rights Under Mandatory Bout Contracts.--No boxing 
service provider may require a boxer to grant any future promotional 
rights as a requirement of competing in a professional boxing match 
that is a mandatory bout under the rules of a sanctioning organization.
    ``(c) Protection from Coercive Contracts with Broadcasters.--
Subsection (a) of this section applies to any contract between a 
commercial broadcaster and a boxer, or granting any rights with respect 
to that boxer, involving a broadcast in or affecting interstate 
commerce, regardless of the broadcast medium. For the purpose of this 
subsection, any reference in subsection (a)(1)(B) to `promoter' shall 
be considered a reference to `commercial broadcaster'.

``SEC. 11. SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.

    ``(a) Objective Criteria.--Within 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, the Association of 
Boxing Commissions shall develop and shall approve by a vote of no less 
than a majority of its member State boxing commissioners, guidelines 
for objective and consistent written criteria for the ratings of 
professional boxers. It is the sense of the Congress that sanctioning 
bodies and State boxing commissions should follow these ABC guidelines.
    ``(b) Appeals Process.--A sanctioning organization shall not be 
entitled to receive any compensation, directly or indirectly, in 
connection with a boxing match, until it provides the boxers with 
notice that the sanctioning organization shall, within 7 days after 
receiving a request from a boxer questioning that organization's rating 
of the boxer--
        ``(1) provide to the boxer a written explanation of the 
    organization's criteria, its rating of the boxer, and the rationale 
    or basis for its rating (including a response to any specific 
    questions submitted by the boxer); and
        ``(2) submit a copy of its explanation to the Association of 
    Boxing Commissions.
    ``(c) Notification of Change in Rating.--A sanctioning organization 
shall not be entitled to receive any compensation, directly or 
indirectly, in connection with a boxing match, until, with respect to a 
change in the rating of a boxer previously rated by such organization 
in the top 10 boxers, the organization--
        ``(1) posts a copy, within 7 days of such change, on its 
    Internet website or home page, if any, including an explanation of 
    such change, for a period of not less than 30 days; and
        ``(2) provides a copy of the rating change and explanation to 
    an association to which at least a majority of the State boxing 
    commissions belong.
    ``(d) Public Disclosure.--
        ``(1) Federal trade commission filing.--A sanctioning 
    organization shall not be entitled to receive any compensation 
    directly or indirectly in connection with a boxing match unless, 
    not later than January 31 of each year, it submits to the Federal 
    Trade Commission and to the ABC--
            ``(A) a complete description of the organization's ratings 
        criteria, policies, and general sanctioning fee schedule;
            ``(B) the bylaws of the organization;
            ``(C) the appeals procedure of the organization for a 
        boxer's rating; and
            ``(D) a list and business address of the organization's 
        officials who vote on the ratings of boxers.
        ``(2) Format; updates.--A sanctioning organization shall--
            ``(A) provide the information required under paragraph (1) 
        in writing, and, for any document greater than 2 pages in 
        length, also in electronic form; and
            ``(B) promptly notify the Federal Trade Commission of any 
        material change in the information submitted.
        ``(3) Federal trade commission to make information available to 
    public.--The Federal Trade Commission shall make information 
    received under this subsection available to the public. The 
    Commission may assess sanctioning organizations a fee to offset the 
    costs it incurs in processing the information and making it 
    available to the public.
        ``(4) Internet alternative.--In lieu of submitting the 
    information required by paragraph (1) to the Federal Trade 
    Commission, a sanctioning organization may provide the information 
    to the public by maintaining a website on the Internet that--
            ``(A) is readily accessible by the general public using 
        generally available search engines and does not require a 
        password or payment of a fee for full access to all the 
        information;
            ``(B) contains all the information required to be submitted 
        to the Federal Trade Commission by paragraph (1) in an easy to 
        search and use format; and
            ``(C) is updated whenever there is a material change in the 
        information.

``SEC. 12. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES TO STATE BOXING COMMISSIONS BY 
              SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.

    ``A sanctioning organization shall not be entitled to receive any 
compensation directly or indirectly in connection with a boxing match 
until it provides to the boxing commission responsible for regulating 
the match in a State a statement of--
        ``(1) all charges, fees, and costs the organization will assess 
    any boxer participating in that match;
        ``(2) all payments, benefits, complimentary benefits, and fees 
    the organization will receive for its affiliation with the event, 
    from the promoter, host of the event, and all other sources; and
        ``(3) such additional information as the commission may 
    require.

``SEC. 13. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES FOR PROMOTERS.

    ``(a) Disclosures to the Boxing Commissions.--A promoter shall not 
be entitled to receive any compensation directly or indirectly in 
connection with a boxing match until it provides to the boxing 
commission responsible for regulating the match in a State a statement 
of--
        ``(1) a copy of any agreement in writing to which the promoter 
    is a party with any boxer participating in the match;
        ``(2) a statement made under penalty of perjury that there are 
    no other agreements, written or oral, between the promoter and the 
    boxer with respect to that match; and
        ``(3)(A) all fees, charges, and expenses that will be assessed 
    by or through the promoter on the boxer pertaining to the event, 
    including any portion of the boxer's purse that the promoter will 
    receive, and training expenses;
        ``(B) all payments, gifts, or benefits the promoter is 
    providing to any sanctioning organization affiliated with the 
    event; and
        ``(C) any reduction in a boxer's purse contrary to a previous 
    agreement between the promoter and the boxer or a purse bid held 
    for the event.
    ``(b) Disclosures to the Boxer.--A promoter shall not be entitled 
to receive any compensation directly or indirectly in connection with a 
boxing match until it provides to the boxer it promotes--
        ``(1) the amounts of any compensation or consideration that a 
    promoter has contracted to receive from such match;
        ``(2) all fees, charges, and expenses that will be assessed by 
    or through the promoter on the boxer pertaining to the event, 
    including any portion of the boxer's purse that the promoter will 
    receive, and training expenses; and
        ``(3) any reduction in a boxer's purse contrary to a previous 
    agreement between the promoter and the boxer or a purse bid held 
    for the event.
    ``(c) Information To Be Available to State Attorney General.--A 
promoter shall make information required to be disclosed under this 
section available to the chief law enforcement officer of the State in 
which the match is to be held upon request of such officer.

``SEC. 14. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES FOR JUDGES AND REFEREES.

    ``A judge or referee shall not be entitled to receive any 
compensation, directly or indirectly, in connection with a boxing match 
until it provides to the boxing commission responsible for regulating 
the match in a State a statement of all consideration, including 
reimbursement for expenses, that will be received from any source for 
participation in the match.

``SEC. 15. CONFIDENTIALITY.

    ``(a) In General.--Neither a boxing commission or an Attorney 
General may disclose to the public any matter furnished by a promoter 
under section 13 except to the extent required in a legal, 
administrative, or judicial proceeding.
    ``(b) Effect of Contrary State Law.--If a State law governing a 
boxing commission requires that information that would be furnished by 
a promoter under section 13 shall be made public, then a promoter is 
not required to file such information with such State if the promoter 
files such information with the ABC.

``SEC. 16. JUDGES AND REFEREES.

    ``No person may arrange, promote, organize, produce, or fight in a 
professional boxing match unless all referees and judges participating 
in the match have been certified and approved by the boxing commission 
responsible for regulating the match in the State where the match is 
held.''.

SEC. 5. CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

    Section 17 of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 
6308) (as redesignated by section 4 of this Act) is amended--
        (1) in the first sentence by striking ``No member'' and 
    inserting ``(a) Regulatory Personnel.--No member''; and
        (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Firewall Between Promoters and Managers.--
        ``(1) In general.--It is unlawful for--
            ``(A) a promoter to have a direct or indirect financial 
        interest in the management of a boxer; or
            ``(B) a manager--
                ``(i) to have a direct or indirect financial interest 
            in the promotion of a boxer; or
                ``(ii) to be employed by or receive compensation or 
            other benefits from a promoter, except for amounts received 
            as consideration under the manager's contract with the 
            boxer.
        ``(2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1)--
            ``(A) does not prohibit a boxer from acting as his own 
        promoter or manager; and
            ``(B) only applies to boxers participating in a boxing 
        match of 10 rounds or more.
    ``(c) Sanctioning Organizations.--
        ``(1) Prohibition on receipts.--Except as provided in paragraph 
    (2), no officer or employee of a sanctioning organization may 
    receive any compensation, gift, or benefit, directly or indirectly, 
    from a promoter, boxer, or manager.
        ``(2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) does not apply to--
            ``(A) the receipt of payment by a promoter, boxer, or 
        manager of a sanctioning organization's published fee for 
        sanctioning a professional boxing match or reasonable expenses 
        in connection therewith if the payment is reported to the 
        responsible boxing commission; or
            ``(B) the receipt of a gift or benefit of de minimis 
        value.''.

SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT.

    Subsection (b) of section 18 of the Professional Boxing Safety Act 
of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6309) (as redesignated by section 4 of this Act) is 
amended--
        (1) in paragraph (1) by inserting a comma and ``other than 
    section 9(b), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or 16,'' after ``this Act'';
        (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (3) 
    and (4), respectively;
        (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
        ``(2) Violation of antiexploitation, sanctioning organization, 
    or disclosure provisions.--Any person who knowingly violates any 
    provision of section 9(b), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or 16 of this Act 
    shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned for not more than 1 year or 
    fined not more than--
            ``(A) $100,000; and
            ``(B) if a violation occurs in connection with a 
        professional boxing match the gross revenues for which exceed 
        $2,000,000, an additional amount which bears the same ratio to 
        $100,000 as the amount of such revenues compared to $2,000,000, 
        or both.''; and
        (4) in paragraph (3) (as redesignated by paragraph 2 of this 
    subsection) by striking ``section 9'' and inserting ``section 
    17(a)''; and
        (5) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Actions by States.--Whenever the chief law enforcement 
officer of any State has reason to believe that a person or 
organization is engaging in practices which violate any requirement of 
this Act, the State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on 
behalf of its residents in an appropriate district court of the United 
States--
        ``(1) to enjoin the holding of any professional boxing match 
    which the practice involves;
        ``(2) to enforce compliance with this Act;
        ``(3) to obtain the fines provided under subsection (b) or 
    appropriate restitution; or
        ``(4) to obtain such other relief as the court may deem 
    appropriate.
    ``(d) Private Right of Action.--Any boxer who suffers economic 
injury as a result of a violation of any provision of this Act may 
bring an action in the appropriate Federal or State court and recover 
the damages suffered, court costs, and reasonable attorneys fees and 
expenses.
    ``(e) Enforcement Against Federal Trade Commission, State Attorneys 
General, Etc.--Nothing in this Act authorizes the enforcement of--
        ``(1) any provision of this Act against the Federal Trade 
    Commission, the United States Attorney General, or the chief legal 
    officer of any State for acting or failing to act in an official 
    capacity;
        ``(2) subsection (d) of this section against a State or 
    political subdivision of a State, or any agency or instrumentality 
    thereof; or
        ``(3) section 10 against a boxer acting in his capacity as a 
    boxer.''.

SEC. 7. ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 2(a) of the Professional Boxing Safety 
Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301(a)) is amended--
        (1) in paragraph (9) by inserting after ``match.'' the 
    following: ``The term `promoter' does not include a hotel, casino, 
    resort, or other commercial establishment hosting or sponsoring a 
    professional boxing match unless--
            ``(A) the hotel, casino, resort, or other commercial 
        establishment is primarily responsible for organizing, 
        promoting, and producing the match; and
            ``(B) there is no other person primarily responsible for 
        organizing, promoting, and producing the match.'';
        (2) in paragraph (10) by striking the period at the end and 
    inserting ``, including the Virgin Islands.''; and
        (3) by adding at the end the following:
        ``(11) Effective date of the contract.--The term `effective 
    date of the contract' means the day upon which a boxer becomes 
    legally bound by the contract.
        ``(12) Boxing service provider.--The term `boxing service 
    provider' means a promoter, manager, sanctioning body, licensee, or 
    matchmaker.
        ``(13) Contract provision.--The term `contract provision' means 
    any legal obligation between a boxer and a boxing service provider.
        ``(14) Sanctioning organization.--The term `sanctioning 
    organization' means an organization that sanctions professional 
    boxing matches in the United States--
            ``(A) between boxers who are residents of different States; 
        or
            ``(B) that are advertised, otherwise promoted, or broadcast 
        (including closed circuit television) in interstate commerce.
        ``(15) Suspension.--The term `suspension' includes within its 
    meaning the revocation of a boxing license.''.
    (b) State Boxing Commission Procedures.--Section 7(a)(2) of the 
Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6306(a)(2)) is 
amended--
        (1) in subparagraph (C) by striking ``or'';
        (2) in subparagraph (D) by striking ``documents.'' at the end 
    and inserting ``documents; or''; and
        (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(E) unsportsmanlike conduct or other inappropriate 
        behavior inconsistent with generally accepted methods of 
        competition in a professional boxing match.''.
    (c) Renewal Period for Identification Cards.--Section 6(b)(2) of 
the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6305(b)(2)) is 
amended by striking ``2 years.'' and inserting ``4 years.''.
    (d) Review of Suspensions.--Section 7(a)(3) of the Professional 
Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6306(a)(3)) is amended by striking 
``boxer'' and inserting ``boxer, licensee, manager, matchmaker, 
promoter, or other boxing service provider''.
    (e) Alternative Supervision.--Section 4 of the Professional Boxing 
Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6303) is amended--
        (1) by striking ``No person'' and inserting ``(a) No person''; 
    and
        (2) by inserting at the end thereof the following:
    ``(b) For the purpose of this Act, if no State commission is 
available to supervise a boxing match according to subsection (a), 
then--
        ``(1) the match may not be held unless it is supervised by an 
    association of boxing commissions to which at least a majority of 
    the States belong; and
        ``(2) any reporting or other requirement relating to a 
    supervising commission allowed under this section shall be deemed 
    to refer to the entity described in paragraph (1).''.
    (f) Health and Safety Disclosures.--Section 6 of the Professional 
Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6305) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) Health and Safety Disclosures.--It is the sense of the 
Congress that a boxing commission should, upon issuing an 
identification card to a boxer under subsection (b)(1), make a health 
and safety disclosure to that boxer as that commission considers 
appropriate. The health and safety disclosure should include the health 
and safety risks associated with boxing, and, in particular, the risk 
and frequency of brain injury and the advisability that a boxer 
periodically undergo medical procedures designed to detect brain 
injury.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.
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