[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 590 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 agreements made by leagues of 
              professional sports, 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 ``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 transfer (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 Relocation.--
            ``(1) In general.--A member club that proposes to relocate, 
        or a league that proposes to relocate 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 before the commencement of the season in which the club is 
        to play home games in the proposed new location.
            ``(2) Persons entitled to receive notice.--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 retain 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 
        thereof, the opportunity to prepare and present a proposal to 
        induce the club to remain in its home community.
            ``(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 determination, before the 
                expiration of the 180-day notice period specified in 
                paragraph (1), with respect to the relocation of club 
                out of its home community .
                    ``(B) Hearings.--In making a determination under 
                this paragraph, the league shall conduct a hearing at 
                which interested persons are afforded an opportunity to 
                present oral or written 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 inducement proposal that is 
                offered under paragraph (5).
            ``(8) Considerations.--In determining whether to approve or 
        disapprove the relocation of the club, the league shall take 
        into consideration the criteria listed in subsection (c).
    ``(c) Criteria for Relocation Decisions.--Notwithstanding 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 
member shall take into consideration--
            ``(1) the extent to which fan loyalty to and support 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 
        territory;
            ``(3) the degree to which the ownership or management of 
        the club has contributed to any circumstances that might 
        demonstrate the need for the relocation;
            ``(4) the extent to which the club, 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 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 operating losses, 
        exclusive of depreciation and amortization, sufficient to 
        threaten the continued financial viability of the club;
            ``(7) whether any other club in the league is located 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 offering 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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