[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 53 Referred in House (RFH)]

  2d Session
                                 S. 53


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 1998

               Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
   To require the general application of the antitrust laws to major 
                league baseball, 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 ``Curt Flood Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    It is the purpose of this legislation to state that major league 
baseball players are covered under the antitrust laws (i.e., that major 
league baseball players will have the same rights under the antitrust 
laws as do other professional athletes, e.g., football and basketball 
players), along with a provision that makes it clear that the passage 
of this Act does not change the application of the antitrust laws in 
any other context or with respect to any other person or entity.

SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF THE ANTITRUST LAWS TO PROFESSIONAL MAJOR LEAGUE 
              BASEBALL.

    The Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 12 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section:
    ``Sec. 27. (a) Subject to subsections (b) through (d), the conduct, 
acts, practices, or agreements of persons in the business of organized 
professional major league baseball directly relating to or affecting 
employment of major league baseball players to play baseball at the 
major league level are subject to the antitrust laws to the same extent 
such conduct, acts, practices, or agreements would be subject to the 
antitrust laws if engaged in by persons in any other professional 
sports business affecting interstate commerce.
    ``(b) No court shall rely on the enactment of this section as a 
basis for changing the application of the antitrust laws to any 
conduct, acts, practices, or agreements other than those set forth in 
subsection (a). This section does not create, permit or imply a cause 
of action by which to challenge under the antitrust laws, or otherwise 
apply the antitrust laws to, any conduct, acts, practices, or 
agreements that do not directly relate to or affect employment of major 
league baseball players to play baseball at the major league level, 
including but not limited to--
            ``(1) any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements of 
        persons engaging in, conducting or participating in the 
        business of organized professional baseball relating to or 
        affecting employment to play baseball at the minor league 
        level, any organized professional baseball amateur or first-
        year player draft, or any reserve clause as applied to minor 
        league players;
            ``(2) the agreement between organized professional major 
        league baseball teams and the teams of the National Association 
        of Professional Baseball Leagues, commonly known as the 
        `Professional Baseball Agreement', the relationship between 
        organized professional major league baseball and organized 
        professional minor league baseball, or any other matter 
        relating to organized professional baseball's minor leagues;
            ``(3) any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements of 
        persons engaging in, conducting or participating in the 
        business of organized professional baseball relating to or 
        affecting franchise expansion, location or relocation, 
        franchise ownership issues, including ownership transfers, the 
        relationship between the Office of the Commissioner and 
        franchise owners, the marketing or sales of the entertainment 
        product of organized professional baseball and the licensing of 
        intellectual property rights owned or held by organized 
        professional baseball teams individually or collectively;
            ``(4) any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements protected 
        by Public Law 87-331 (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 et seq.) (commonly 
        known as the `Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961');
            ``(5) the relationship between persons in the business of 
        organized professional baseball and umpires or other 
        individuals who are employed in the business of organized 
        professional baseball by such persons; or
            ``(6) any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements of 
        persons not in the business of organized professional major 
        league baseball.
    ``(c) Only a major league baseball player has standing to sue under 
this section. For the purposes of this section, a major league baseball 
player is--
            ``(1) a person who is a party to a major league player's 
        contract, or is playing baseball at the major league level; or
            ``(2) a person who was a party to a major league player's 
        contract or playing baseball at the major league level at the 
        time of the injury that is the subject of the complaint; or
            ``(3) a person who has been a party to a major league 
        player's contract or who has played baseball at the major 
        league level, and who claims he has been injured in his efforts 
        to secure a subsequent major league player's contract by an 
        alleged violation of the antitrust laws: Provided however, That 
        for the purposes of this paragraph, the alleged antitrust 
        violation shall not include any conduct, acts, practices, or 
        agreements of persons in the business of organized professional 
        baseball relating to or affecting employment to play baseball 
        at the minor league level, including any organized professional 
        baseball amateur or first-year player draft, or any reserve 
        clause as applied to minor league players; or
            ``(4) a person who was a party to a major league player's 
        contract or who was playing baseball at the major league level 
        at the conclusion of the last full championship season 
        immediately preceding the expiration of the last collective 
        bargaining agreement between persons in the business of 
        organized professional major league baseball and the exclusive 
        collective bargaining representative of major league baseball 
        players.
    ``(d)(1) As used in this section, `person' means any entity, 
including an individual, partnership, corporation, trust or 
unincorporated association or any combination or association thereof. 
As used in this section, the National Association of Professional 
Baseball Leagues, its member leagues and the clubs of those leagues, 
are not `in the business of organized professional major league 
baseball'.
    ``(2) In cases involving conduct, acts, practices, or agreements 
that directly relate to or affect both employment of major league 
baseball players to play baseball at the major league level and also 
relate to or affect any other aspect of organized professional 
baseball, including but not limited to employment to play baseball at 
the minor league level and the other areas set forth in subsection (b) 
above, only those components, portions or aspects of such conduct, 
acts, practices, or agreements that directly relate to or affect 
employment of major league players to play baseball at the major league 
level may be challenged under subsection (a) and then only to the 
extent that they directly relate to or affect employment of major 
league baseball players to play baseball at the major league level.
    ``(3) As used in subsection (a), interpretation of the term 
`directly' shall not be governed by any interpretation of section 151 
et seq. of title 29, United States Code (as amended).
    ``(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the 
application to organized professional baseball of the nonstatutory 
labor exemption from the antitrust laws.
    ``(5) The scope of the conduct, acts, practices, or agreements 
covered by subsection (b) shall not be strictly or narrowly 
construed.''.

            Passed the Senate July 30, 1998.

            Attest:

                                                    GARY SISCO,

                                                             Secretary.