[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1704 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1704

 To amend the Clayton Act to make the antitrust laws applicable to the 
     elimination or relocation of major league baseball franchises.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 14, 2001

Mr. Wellstone (for himself, Mr. Dayton, and Mr. Harkin) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Clayton Act to make the antitrust laws applicable to the 
     elimination or relocation of major league baseball franchises.

    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 ``Fairness in Antitrust in National 
Sports (FANS) Act of 2001''.

 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    It is the purpose of this Act to state that the elimination or 
relocation of major league baseball franchises are covered under the 
antitrust laws, and to make clear that the enactment 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--
            (1) by redesignating section 27, as added by the Curt Flood 
        Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-297), as section 28, and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``Sec. 29. (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 
the elimination or relocation of a major league baseball franchise 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 the elimination or 
relocation of a major league baseball franchise, including but not 
limited to--
            ``(1) 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;
            ``(2) any conduct, act, practice, or agreement of a person 
        engaging in, conducting, or participating in the business of 
        organized professional baseball relating to or affecting 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;
            ``(3) any conduct, act, practice, or agreement protected by 
        Public Law 87-331 (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 et seq.) (commonly known 
        as the `Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961'); and
             ``(4) any conduct, act, practice, or agreement of a person 
        not in the business of organized professional major league 
        baseball.
    ``(c) Any person (including any major league or minor league 
baseball player, any Federal, State, or local government, and any 
stadium authority) injured by a violation of subsection (a), shall have 
standing to bring action under such subsection based on such violation.
    ``(d)(1) As used in this section--
            ``(A) the term `person' means any entity, including an 
        individual, partnership, corporation, trust, or unincorporated 
        association, or any combination or association thereof, and
            ``(B) the National Association of Professional Baseball 
        Leagues, its member leagues, and the clubs of any of such 
        leagues, shall not be considered to be `in the business of 
        organized professional major league baseball'.
    ``(2) The scope of the conduct, acts, practices, or agreements 
covered by subsection (b) shall not be strictly or narrowly 
construed.''.
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