[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 106 (Friday, July 31, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9622-S9623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   S. 53--THE CURT FLOOD ACT OF 1998

  The text of S. 53, the Curt Flood Act of 1998, as passed by the 
Senate on July 30, 1998, is as follows:

                                 S. 53

       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)

[[Page S9623]]

     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.''.

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