[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2238 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2238

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 26, 1998

 Mr. Lott (for Mr. McCain) (for himself and Mr. Bryan) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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) Professional boxers are vulnerable to exploitative 
        business practices engaged in by certain promoters and 
        sanctioning bodies which dominate the sport. Boxers do not have 
        an established representative group to advocate for their 
        interests and rights in the industry.
            (3) 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 be violative of State regulations, or are onerous and 
        confiscatory.
            (4) 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.
            (5) 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.
            (6) Open competition in the professional boxing industry 
        has been significantly interfered with by restrictive and anti-
        competitive 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.
            (7) It is necessary and appropriate to establish national 
        contracting reforms to protect professional boxers and prevent 
        exploitative business practices, and to require enhanced 
        financial disclosures to State athletic commissions to improve 
        the public oversight of the sport.
            (8) Whereas the Congress seeks to improve the integrity and 
        ensure fair practices of the professional boxing industry on a 
        nationwide basis, it deems it appropriate to name this reform 
        in honor of Muhammad Ali, whose career achievements and 
        personal contributions to the sport, and positive impact on our 
        society, are unsurpassed in the history of boxing.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to protect the rights and welfare of professional 
        boxers by preventing certain exploitative, oppressive, and 
        unethical business practices they may be subject to on an 
        interstate basis;
            (2) to assist State boxing commissions in their efforts to 
        provide more effective public oversight of the sport; and
            (3) to promoting 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 by--
            (1) redesignating section 15 as 16; and
            (2) inserting after section 14 the following:

``SEC. 15. PROTECTION FROM EXPLOITATION.

    ``(a) Contract Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any contract between a boxer and a 
        promoter or manager shall--
                    ``(A) be reasonable;
                    ``(B) include mutual obligations between the 
                parties; and
                    ``(C) specify a minimum number of professional 
                boxing matches per year for the boxer.
            ``(2) 1-year limit on coercive promotional rights.--The 
        period of time for which promotional rights to promote a boxer 
        may be granted under a contract between the boxer and a 
        promoter, or between promoters with respect to a boxer, may not 
        be greater than 12 months in length 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, as a condition precedent 
        to the boxer's participation in a professional boxing match. 
        Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as pre-empting any 
        State statute or common law rule against interference with 
        contract.
            ``(3) Promotional rights under mandatory bout contracts.--
        Neither a promoter nor a sanctioning organization may require a 
        boxer, in a contract arising from a professional boxing match 
        that is a mandatory bout under the rules of the sanctioning 
        organization, to grant promotional rights to any promoter for a 
        future professional boxing match.
    ``(b) Employment As Condition of Promoting, Etc.--No person who is 
a licensee, manager, matchmaker, or promoter may require a boxer to 
employ, retain, or provide compensation to any individual or business 
enterprise (whether operating in corporate form or not) recommended or 
designated by that person as a condition of--
            ``(1) such person's working with the boxer as a licensee, 
        manager, matchmaker, or promoter;
            ``(2) such person's arranging for the boxer to participate 
        in a professional boxing match; or
            ``(3) such boxer's participation in a professional boxing 
        match.
    ``(c) Enforcement.--
            ``(1) Promotion agreement.--A provision in a contract 
        between a promoter and a boxer, or between promoters with 
        respect to a boxer, that violates subsection (a) is contrary to 
        public policy and unenforceable at law.
            ``(2) Employment agreement.--In any action brought against 
        a boxer to recover money (whether as damages or as money owed) 
        for acting as a licensee, manager, matchmaker, or promoter for 
        the boxer, the court, arbitrator, or administrative body before 
        which the action is brought may deny recovery in whole or in 
        part under the contract as contrary to public policy if the 
        employment, retention, or compensation that is the subject of 
        the action was obtained in violation of subsection (b).''.
    (b) Conflicts of Interest.--Section 9 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 6308) 
is amended by--
            (1) striking ``No member'' and inserting ``(a) Regulatory 
        Personnel.--No member''; and
            (2) adding at the end thereof 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 to have a direct or indirect 
                financial interest in the promotion of a boxer.
            ``(2) Exception for self-promotion and management.--
        Paragraph (1) does not prohibit a boxer from acting as his own 
        promoter or manager.''.

SEC. 5. SANCTIONING ORGANIZATION INTEGRITY REFORMS.

    (a) In General.--The Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 
U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended by section 4 of this Act, is amended 
by--
            (1) redesignating section 16, as redesignated by section 4 
        of this Act, as section 17; and
            (2) inserting after section 15 the following:

``SEC. 16. SANCTIONING ORGANIZATIONS.

    ``(a) Objective Criteria.--A sanctioning organization that 
sanctions professional boxing matches on an interstate basis shall 
establish objective and consistent written criteria for the ratings of 
professional boxers.
    ``(b) Appeals Process.--A sanctioning organization shall establish 
and publish an appeals procedure that affords a boxer rated by that 
organization a reasonable opportunity to submit information to contest 
its rating of the boxer. Under the procedure, the sanctioning 
organization shall, within 14 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 and its rating of the boxer; and
            ``(2) submit a copy of its explanation to the President of 
        the Association of Boxing Commissions of the United States.
    ``(c) Notification of Change in Rating.--If a sanctioning 
organization changes its rating of a boxer who is included, before the 
change, in the top 10 boxers rated by that organization, then it shall 
provide a written explanation of the reasons for its change in that 
boxer's rating to the boxer within 14 days after changing the boxer's 
rating.
    ``(d) Public Disclosure.--
            ``(1) FTC filing.--Not later than January 31st of each 
        year, a sanctioning organization shall submit to the Federal 
        Trade Commission--
                    ``(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; 
                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) FTC 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.''.
    (b) Conflict of Interest.--Section 9 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 6308), 
as amended by section 4 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end 
thereof the following:
    ``(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 under section 17; or
                    ``(B) the receipt of a gift or benefit of de 
                minimis value.''.
    (c) Sanctioning Organization Defined.--Section 2 of the 
Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301) is amended by 
adding at the end thereof the following:
            ``(11) 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.''.

SEC. 6. PUBLIC INTEREST DISCLOSURES TO STATE BOXING COMMISSIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 
U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended by section 5 of this Act, is amended 
by--
            (1) redesignating section 17, as redesignated by section 5 
        of this Act, as section 18; and
            (2) inserting after section 16 the following:

``SEC. 17. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES TO STATE BOXING COMMISSIONS.

    ``(a) Sanctioning Organizations.--Before sanctioning a professional 
boxing match in a State, a sanctioning organization shall provide to 
the boxing commission of, or responsible for sanctioning matches in, 
that State a written 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.
    ``(b) Promoters.--Before a professional boxing match organized, 
promoted, or produced by a promoter is held in a State, the promoter 
shall provide a statement in writing to the boxing commission of, or 
responsible for sanctioning matches in, that State--
            ``(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 statement in writing of--
                    ``(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; and
                    ``(B) all payments, gift, or benefits the promoter 
                is providing to any sanctioning organization affiliated 
                with the event.
    ``(c) State Boxing Commission to Establish Requirements.--The 
boxing commission of each State, or the responsible boxing commission 
for a State that has no boxing commission, shall determine how far in 
advance of a professional boxing match the documents described in 
subsections (a) and (b) shall be provided to the boxing commission, and 
may prescribe such additional requirements relative to the required 
submission as may be necessary.
    ``(d) Information To Be Available to State Attorney General.--A 
State boxing commission shall make information received under this 
section available to the chief law enforcement officer of the State in 
which the match is to be held upon request.
    ``(e) Exception.--The requirements of this section do not apply in 
connection with a professional boxing match scheduled to last less than 
10 rounds.''.

SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT.

    Section 10 of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 
6309) is amended by--
            (1) inserting a comma and ``other than section 9(b), 15, 
        16, or 17,'' after ``this Act'' in subsection (b)(1);
            (2) redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b) 
        as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively, and inserting after 
        paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Violation of anti-exploitation, sanctioning 
        organization, or disclosure provisions.--Any person who knowing 
        violates any provision of section 9(b), 15, 16, or 17 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 the violations occur in connection with a 
                professional boxing match the gross revenues for which 
                exceed $2,000,000, such additional amount as the court 
                finds appropriate,
        or both.''; and
            (3) adding at the end thereof 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.''.
                                 <all>