[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1832 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1832

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 1999

Mr. Oxley (for himself, Mr. Engel, Mr. Meeks of New York, and Mr. King) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
    Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the 
 Workforce, 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 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 promote 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) include mutual obligations between the 
                parties;
                    ``(B) specify a minimum number of professional 
                boxing matches per year for the boxer; and
                    ``(C) set forth a specific period of time during 
                which the contract will be in effect, including any 
                provision for extension of that period due to the 
                boxer's temporary inability to compete because of an 
                injury or other cause.
            ``(2) 1-year limit on coercive promotional rights.--
                    ``(A) 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 against 
another boxer who is under contract to the promoter.
                    ``(B) A promoter exercising promotional rights with 
                respect to such boxer during the 12-month period 
                beginning on the day after the last day of the 
                promotional right period described in subparagraph (A) 
                may not secure exclusive promotional rights from the 
                boxer's opponents as a condition of participating in a 
                professional boxing match against the boxer, and any 
                contract to the contrary--
                            ``(i) shall be considered to be in 
                        restraint of trade and contrary to public 
                        policy; and
                            ``(ii) unenforceable.
                    ``(C) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed 
                as pre-empting any State law concerning interference 
                with contracts.
            ``(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 Promotion, 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 owned) 
        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--
                            ``(i) to have a direct or indirect 
                        financial interest in the promotion of a boxer; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) to be employed by or receive 
                        compensation or other benefits from a promoter,
                except for amounts received as consideration under the 
                manager's contract with the 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) by 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, without the payment of any fee, 
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, its rating of the boxer, and the 
        rationale or basis for its rating (including a response to any 
        specific questions submitted by the boxer); and
            ``(2) submit a copy of its explanation to the President of 
        the Association of Boxing Commissions of the United States and 
        to the boxing commission of the boxer's domiciliary State.
    ``(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, within 
14 days after changing the boxer's rating, the organization shall--
            ``(1) mail notice of the change and a written explanation 
        of the reasons for its change in that boxer's rating to the 
        boxer at the boxer's last known address;
            ``(2) post a copy, within the 14-day period, of the notice 
        and the explanation on its Internet website or homepage, if 
        any, for a period of not less than 30 days; and
            ``(3) mail a copy of the notice and the explanation to the 
        President of the Association of Boxing Commissions.
    ``(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) by 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) Information To Be Available to State Attorney General.--A 
promoter 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.
    ``(d) 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 
        knowingly 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.''.

SEC. 8. PROFESSIONAL BOXING SAFETY ACT AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 2 of the Professional Boxing Safety Act 
of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301), as amended by section 5(c) of this Act, is 
amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
            ``(12) Suspension.--The term `suspension' includes within 
        its meaning the revocation of a boxing license.''.
    (b) State Boxing Commission Procedures.--Section 7(a)(2) of such 
Act (15 U.S.C. 6306(a)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or'' in subparagraph (C);
            (2) by striking ``documents.'' at the end of subparagraph 
        (D) and inserting ``documents; or''; and
            (3) adding at the end thereof the following:
                    ``(E) unsportsmanlike conduct or other 
                inappropriate behavior inconsistent with generally 
                accepted methods of competition in a professional 
                boxing match.''.
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