Act of September 30, 1961 Public Law 87–331, as amended 75 Stat. 732, as amended Act of September 30, 1961 331 99–514 Statute Compilation United States House of Representatives Office of the Legislative Counsel text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. GPO Statute Compilations USLM converter, version 20240419 2026-06-12 Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 Act of September 30, 1961 12156 87 1961-09-30 Act of September 30, 1961 [Commonly known as the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961] [Public Law 87–331; Enacted September 30, 1961; 75 Stat. 732] [As Amended Through P.L. 99–514, Enacted October 22, 1986] [Currency: This publication is a compilation of the text of Public Law 87-331. It was last amended by the public law listed in the As Amended Through note above and below at the bottom of each page of the pdf version and reflects current law through the date of the enactment of the public law listed at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/comps/] [Note: While this publication does not represent an official version of any Federal statute, substantial efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents. The official version of Federal law is found in the United States Statutes at Large and in the United States Code. The legal effect to be given to the Statutes at Large and the United States Code is established by statute (1 U.S.C. 112, 204).]
An Actto amend the antitrust laws to authorize leagues of professional football, baseball, basketball, and hockey teams to enter into certain television contracts, and for other purposes.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the antitrust laws, as defined in section 1 of the Act of October 15, 1914, as amended (38 Stat. 730), or in the Federal Trade Commission Act, as amended (38 Stat. 717), shall not apply to any joint agreement by or among persons engaging in or conducting the organized professional team sports of football, baseball, basketball, or hockey, by which any league of clubs participating in professional football, baseball, basketball, or hockey contests, sells or otherwise transfers all or part of the rights of such league's member clubs in the sponsored telecasting of the games of football, baseball, basketball, or hockey, as the case may be, engaged in or conducted by such clubs. In addition, such laws shall not apply to a joint agreement by which the member clubs of two or more professional football leagues, which are exempt from income tax under section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, combine their operations in expanded single league so exempt from income tax, if such agreement increases rather than decreases the number of professional football clubs so operating, and the provisions of which are directly relevant thereto.[15 U.S.C. 1291]
Sec. 2. Section 1 of this Act shall not apply to any joint agreement described in the first sentence in section 1 of this Act which prohibits any person to whom such rights are sold or transferred from televising any games within any area, except within the home territory of a member club of the league on a day when such club is playing a game at home.[15 U.S.C. 1292]
Sec. 3. The first sentence of section 1 of this Act shall not apply to any joint agreement described in section 1 of this Act which permits the telecasting of all or a substantial part of any professional football game on any Friday after six o'clock postmeridian or on any Saturday during the period beginning on the second Friday in September and ending on the second Saturday in December in any year from any telecasting station located within seventy-five miles of the game site of any intercollegiate or interscholastic football contest scheduled to be played on such a date if— (1) such intercollegiate football contest is between institutions of higher learning both of which confer degrees upon students following completion of sufficient credit hours to equal a four-year course, or (2) in the case of an interscholastic football contest, such contest is between secondary schools, both of which are accredited or certified under the laws of the State or States in which they are situated and offer courses continuing through the twelfth grade of the standard school curriculum, or the equivalent, and (3) such intercollegiate or interscholastic football contest and such game site were announced through publication in a newspaper of general circulation prior to August 1 of such year as being regularly scheduled for such day and place. [15 U.S.C. 1293]
Sec. 4. Nothing contained in this Act shall be deemed to change, determine, or otherwise affect the applicability or nonapplicability of the antitrust laws to any act, contract, agreement, rule, course of conduct, or other activity by, between, or among persons engaging in, conducting, or participating in the organized professional team sports of football, baseball, basketball, or hockey, except the agreements to which section 1 of this Act shall apply.[15 U.S.C. 1294]
Sec. 5. As used in this Act, “persons” means any individual, partnership, corporation, or unincorporated association or any combination or association thereof.[15 U.S.C. 1295]
Sec. 6. Nothing in this Act shall affect any cause of action existing on the effective date hereof in respect to the organized professional team sports of baseball, football, basketball, or hockey.[15 U.S.C. 1291 note]