[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2740 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 2740

 To protect sports fans and communities throughout the Nation, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 7, 1995

    Mr. Hoke (for himself, Mr. Blute, Mr. Cremeans, Mrs. Cubin, Mr. 
   Flanagan, Mr. Gutknecht, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hobson, Mr. 
Jones, Mrs. Kelly, Mr. King, Mr. LaTourette, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Meehan, 
Mrs. Meek of Florida, Ms. Molinari, Mr. Ney, Mr. Oxley, Mr. Peterson of 
Minnesota, Mr. Portman, Ms. Pryce, Mr. Quinn, Mr. Scarborough, and Mr. 
  Traficant) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To protect sports fans and communities throughout the Nation, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Fan Freedom and Community Protection 
Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The name of a professional sports team is always linked 
        to the name of the community in which it is located.
            (2) Communities, sports fans, and taxpayers make a 
        substantial and valuable financial, psychological, and 
        emotional investment in their teams and their teams' names.
            (3) Professional sports teams promote civic pride, and 
        generate jobs, revenues, and other local economic development.
            (4) Professional sports teams remain in communities for 
        generations and represent much more than a business.
            (5) Current law does not protect the rights of sports fans 
        nor the interests of communities when a professional sports 
        team decides to relocate.
            (6) Professional sports team owners are positioned to 
        extract enormous benefits from communities, and they are taking 
        advantage of these opportunities.
            (7) Professional sports teams and leagues have directly 
        benefited from Federal legislation, including the following:
                    (A) Public law 87-331 (15 U.S.C. 1291 et seq; 
                commonly referred to as the Sports Antitrust Broadcast 
                Act of 1961).
                    (B) Public law 89-800 (80 Stat. 1508; commonly 
                referred to as the Football Merger Act of 1966).
                    (C) Public law 93-107 (87 Stat. 350; relating to a 
                prohibition of local television blackouts of network 
                games which were sold out 72 hours in advance).
                    (D) Federal tax laws that allow depreciation of 
                player contracts, capital gains, carryover losses, and 
                the formation of Subchapter S corporations.
            (8) The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Los 
        Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission v. National Football 
        League (726 F.2d 1381 (9th cir. 1984); commonly referred to as 
        Raiders I), Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission v. 
        National Football League (791 F.2d. 1356 (9th cir. 1986); 
        commonly referred to as Raiders II), and National Basketball 
        Association v. SDC Basketball Club, Inc. (815 F.2d 562 (9th 
        cir. 1987); commonly referred to as Clippers) that a league has 
        the authority to prevent a professional sports team from 
        relocating from one community to another community.

SEC. 3. TEAM NAME.

    (a) Conditions on Approval of Relocation.--In a case in which a 
league approves the relocation of a professional sports team from a 
community described in subsection (b)--
            (1) the registered mark that is used to identify the 
        professional sports team becomes the property of the league;
            (2) the league shall reserve the registered mark and any 
        portion of the registered mark for use only by the community 
        from which the team is relocating until the earlier of--
                    (A) the expiration of the registered mark; or
                    (B) the date on which the community informs the 
                league that a professional sports team will not be 
                using the registered mark; and
            (3) the registered mark or any portion of the registered 
        mark may not be used by another professional sports team in the 
        same league.
    (b) Communities Covered.--A community referred to in subsection (a) 
is a community in which a professional sports team has been located for 
a period of at least 10 years.

SEC. 4. NOTICE OF PROPOSED RELOCATION OF A PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAM.

    (a) Requirement.--A professional sports team owner seeking to 
relocate the team from one community to another shall provide notice of 
the proposed relocation to the parties listed in subsection (b) not 
later than 180 days before the commencement of the season in which the 
professional sports team is to play in the new community.
    (b) Parties.--The notice required under subsection (a) shall be 
provided to--
            (1) the local government for the community in which the 
        professional sports team's stadium or arena is located;
            (2) the owner or operator of such stadium or arena; and
            (3) each professional sports team that is a member of the 
        league for the professional sport concerned.
    (c) Additional Requirements.--The notice required under subsection 
(a) shall--
            (1) be delivered in person or by certified mail;
            (2) be published in one or more newspapers of general 
        circulation within the community in which the professional 
        sports team is located; and
            (3) contain an identification of the proposed new location 
        for the professional sports team, a summary of the reasons for 
        moving the professional sports team based on the factors listed 
        in section 7, and the date on which the proposed change is 
        scheduled to become effective.

SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT TO MAKE EXPANSION TEAMS AVAILABLE TO COMMUNITIES 
              UPON THE FULFILLMENT OF CERTAIN CONDITIONS.

    (a) League Requirement to Grant Franchise.--Not later than 12 
months after the submission of the name of an investor under subsection 
(b) to a league, the league shall grant to the investor a new expansion 
professional sports team franchise from the league at a fee in an 
amount no greater than an amount equal to 85 percent of the franchise 
fee charged by the league for the last expansion professional sports 
team franchise granted by the league.
    (b) Three-Year Opportunity for Investment.--The requirement of 
subsection (a) applies to a league in any case in which--
            (1) the league approves, on or after January 1, 1993, the 
        relocation of a professional sports team from one community to 
        another;
            (2) not later than three years after such relocation, the 
        community in which the team was previously located submits to 
        the league the name of an investor to be granted a new 
        professional sports team franchise in such community by the 
        league; and
            (3) the investor demonstrates that he is financially able 
        to purchase and support a team by placing the amount described 
        under subsection (a), in addition to an amount equal to the 
        sale price of the last professional sports team sale approved 
        by the league, in an escrow account.
    (c) Ten-Year Relocation Prohibition.--In the case of a grant of a 
professional sports team franchise under subsection (a), the league may 
approve a resale of the team, but may not approve a relocation of the 
team during the ten-year period beginning on the date of the grant of 
the expansion professional sports team franchise.
    (d) Exception.--This section shall not apply in the case of a 
community with a professional sports team if the team relocates within 
60 miles of the community.

SEC. 6. LEAGUE RELOCATION AUTHORITY AND RELOCATION DETERMINATION 
              CRITERIA.

    (a) League Authority.--It is not unlawful by reason of the 
antitrust laws for a professional sports league to enforce rules or 
agreements authorizing the membership of such league to decide whether 
a professional sports team that is a member of the league may relocate 
from one community to another.
    (b) Determination Criteria.--In determining whether to approve or 
disapprove the relocation of a professional sports team from one 
community to another, a league shall make specific findings regarding--
            (1) the extent to which fan loyalty to and support for the 
        team has been demonstrated during the team's tenure in the 
        community;
            (2) the degree to which the team has engaged in good faith 
        negotiations with appropriate persons concerning terms and 
        conditions under which the team would continue to play its 
        games in the community;
            (3) the degree to which the owners or managers of the team 
        have contributed to any circumstances which might demonstrate 
        the need for the relocation;
            (4) the extent to which the team, directly or indirectly, 
        received public financial support by means of any publicly 
        financed playing facility, special tax treatment, or any other 
        form of public financial support;
            (5) the adequacy of the stadium in which the team played 
        its home games in the previous season, and the willingness of 
        the stadium, arena authority, or the local government to remedy 
        any deficiencies in such facility;
            (6) whether the team has incurred net operating losses, 
        exclusive of depreciation and amortization, sufficient to 
        threaten the continued financial viability of the team;
            (7) whether any other team in the league is located in the 
        community in which the team is currently located;
            (8) whether the team proposes to relocate to a community in 
        which no other team in the league is located;
            (9) whether the stadium authority, if public, is not 
        opposed to such relocation; and
            (10) whether there is a bona fide investor offering fair 
        market value for the professional sports team and will retain 
        the team in the current community.

SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Penalties for Failure to Comply.--A league that violates the 
requirement of section 5(a) by failing to grant a new professional 
sports team franchise--
            (1) is liable to the community in which the team was 
        previously located for damages equal to three times the 
        purchase price of the team; and
            (2) is subject to the suspension for one season of its 
        antitrust exemption for pooling the broadcasting rights to 
        games under Public Law 87-331 (15 U.S.C. 1291 et seq.).
    (b) Enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission.--The provisions of 
this Act shall be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission under the 
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).

SEC. 8. INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN MATTERS.

    Nothing in this Act shall--
            (1) alter, determine, or otherwise affect the applicability 
        or inapplicability of the antitrust laws, the labor laws, or 
        any other provision of law to the wages, hours, or other terms 
        and conditions of employment of players in any professional 
        sports league, to any employment matter regarding players in 
        any such league or to any collective bargaining rights and 
        privilege of any player union in any such league;
            (2) alter or affect the applicability or inapplicability of 
        the antitrust laws or any applicable Federal or State law 
        regarding broadcasting or telecasting, including those 
        contained under section 1291 of title 15, United States Code, 
        to any agreement between any professional sports league or a 
        professional sports team that is a member of the league and any 
        person not affiliated with such a league for the broadcasting 
        or telecasting of the games of such league or members of the 
        league on any form of television;
            (3) affect any contract, or provision of a contract, 
        relating to the use of a stadium or arena between a 
        professional sports team and the owner or operator of any 
        stadium or arena or any other person;
            (4) exempt from the antitrust laws any agreement to fix the 
        prices of admission to sports contests;
            (5) exempt from the antitrust laws any predatory practice 
        or other conduct with respect to competing sports leagues which 
        would otherwise be unlawful under the antitrust laws; or
            (6) except as provided in this Act, alter, determine, or 
        otherwise affect the applicability or inapplicability 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 professional 
        football, basketball, hockey, or baseball.

SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Antitrust laws.--The term ``antitrust laws''--
                    (A) has the meaning giving it in subsection (a) of 
                the first section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)), 
                except that such term includes section 5 of the Federal 
                Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent such 
                section applies to unfair methods of competition; and
                    (B) includes any State law similar to the laws 
                referred to in subparagraph (A).
            (2) Community.--The term ``community'' means a city, 
        county, parish, town, township, village, or any other general 
        function governmental unit established by State law.
            (3) Investor.--The term ``investor'' means any person or 
        group of persons, including a community.
            (4) League.--The terms ``league'' and ``professional sports 
        league'' mean an association composed of two or more 
        professional sports teams (which have been engaged in 
        competition in their sport for more than seven years) which has 
        adopted, accepted, or put into effect rules for the conduct of 
        professional sports teams which are members of that association 
        and for the regulation of contests and exhibitions in which 
        such teams regularly engage. The term includes--
                    (A) the National Football League;
                    (B) the National Hockey League;
                    (C) the National Basketball Association; and
                    (D) Major League Baseball.
            (5) Located.--The term ``located'', with respect to a 
        professional sports team, means situated in the stadium or 
        arena in which the professional sports team plays its home 
        games.
            (6) Professional Sports Team.--The term ``professional 
        sports team'' means any group of professional athletes 
        organized to play major league football, hockey, basketball, or 
        baseball.

SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act takes effect as of August 1, 1995.
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