I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 590
To amend the Act of September 30, 1961, to limit the antitrust exemption
applicable to broadcasting agreements made by leagues of professional
sports, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 5, 1997
Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. FARR of California, and
Mr. TRAFICANT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Act of September 30, 1961, to limit the
antitrust exemption applicable to broadcasting agree-
ments made by leagues of professional sports, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Give Fans a Chance
Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO ANTITRUST EXEMPTION.
The Act of September 30, 1961 (Public Law 87–331;
15 U.S.C. 1291 et seq.), is amended by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘SEC. 7. CONDITIONAL APPLICATION OF ACT.
‘‘(a) INAPPLICABILITY.—This Act shall not apply to
a league of clubs of a professional sport for any period
during which any member club of such league is—
‘‘(1) subject to such league’s requirement, or to
an agreement made by 2 or more member clubs of
such league, that forbids any of such clubs to trans-
fer (by sale or otherwise) an ownership interest of
any kind in such club to any governmental entity or
to members of the general public; or
‘‘(2) not in compliance with subsection (b) or
(c).
‘‘(b) NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGE IN COMMUNITY;
OPPORTUNITIES TO RESPOND TO PROPOSED RELOCA-
TION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A member club that pro-
poses to relocate, or a league that proposes to relo-
cate a member club, out of a community in the home
territory of the member club shall furnish notice of
such proposed relocation not later than 180 days be-
fore the commencement of the season in which the
club is to play home games in the proposed new lo-
cation.
‘‘(2) PERSONS
ENTITLED
TO
RECEIVE
NO-
TICE.—The notice required by paragraph (1) shall
be furnished to all interested persons.
‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The notice shall—
‘‘(A) be in writing and delivered in person
or by certified mail;
‘‘(B) be made available to the news media;
‘‘(C) be published in 1 or more newspapers
of general circulation within the club’s home
community; and
‘‘(D) contain—
‘‘(i) an identification of the proposed
new home community of such club;
‘‘(ii) a summary of the reasons for the
proposed relocation based on the criteria
listed in subsection (c); and
‘‘(iii) the date on which the proposed
relocation would become effective.
‘‘(4) OPPORTUNITY TO OFFER TO PURCHASE.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the 180-day
notice period specified in paragraph (1), a local
government, stadium, arena authority, person,
or any combination thereof, may prepare and
present a proposal to purchase the club to re-
tain the club in the home community.
‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP IN LEAGUE.—If a bid
under subparagraph (A) is successful, the
league of which the club is a member shall not
prohibit the club’s membership in the league on
the basis that the club is owned in whole or in
part by several persons or entities, or by 1 or
more local governments.
‘‘(5) OPPORTUNITY
TO
INDUCE
CLUB
TO
STAY.—During the 180-day notice period specified
in paragraph (1), the club (and the league of which
the club is a member) shall give a local government,
stadium authority, person, or any combination there-
of, the opportunity to prepare and present a pro-
posal to induce the club to remain in its home com-
munity.
‘‘(6) RESPONSE.—The response of the owner of
the club to any offer made under paragraph (4) or
(5) shall—
‘‘(A) be in writing and delivered in person
or by certified mail; and
‘‘(B) state in detail the reasons for refusal
of any bona fide offer.
‘‘(7) DETERMINATION BY LEAGUE.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The league of which
the club is a member shall make a determina-
tion, before the expiration of the 180-day notice
period specified in paragraph (1), with respect
to the relocation of club out of its home com-
munity .
‘‘(B) HEARINGS.—In making a determina-
tion under this paragraph, the league shall con-
duct a hearing at which interested persons are
afforded an opportunity to present oral or writ-
ten testimony regarding the proposed relocation
of the club. The league shall keep a record of
all such proceedings.
‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION
OF
PROPOSALS.—
The league shall take into account any induce-
ment proposal that is offered under paragraph
(5).
‘‘(8) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining wheth-
er to approve or disapprove the relocation of the
club, the league shall take into consideration the cri-
teria listed in subsection (c).
‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR RELOCATION DECISIONS.—Not-
withstanding any other law, before making a decision to
approve or disapprove the relocation of a club out of its
home community, the league of which such club is a mem-
ber shall take into consideration—
‘‘(1) the extent to which fan loyalty to and sup-
port for the club has been demonstrated during the
club’s operation in such community;
‘‘(2) the degree to which the club has engaged
in good faith negotiations with appropriate persons
concerning terms and conditions under which the
club would continue to play home games in such
community or elsewhere within the club’s home ter-
ritory;
‘‘(3) the degree to which the ownership or man-
agement of the club has contributed to any cir-
cumstances that might demonstrate the need for the
relocation;
‘‘(4) the extent to which the club, directly or in-
directly, received public financial support by means
of any publicly financed playing facility, special tax
treatment, or any other form of public financial sup-
port;
‘‘(5) the adequacy of the stadium in which the
club played its home games in the previous season,
and the willingness of the stadium, arena authority,
or local government to remedy any deficiencies in
the facility;
‘‘(6) whether the club has incurred net operat-
ing losses, exclusive of depreciation and amortiza-
tion, sufficient to threaten the continued financial vi-
ability of the club;
‘‘(7) whether any other club in the league is lo-
cated in the same home community;
‘‘(8) whether the club proposes to relocate to a
community that is the home community of another
member club of the league;
‘‘(9) whether the stadium authority, if public, is
opposed to the proposed relocation; and
‘‘(10) whether there is a bona fide investor of-
fering fair market value for the club and seeking to
retain the club in such community.’’.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act and the amendment made by this Act shall
take effect on the first day of the first month beginning
more than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
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