text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Fan Freedom and Community Protection 
  Act of 1995''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress finds the following:
              (1) The name of a professional sports team is always linked 
          to the name of the community in which it is located.
              (2) Communities, sports fans, and taxpayers make a 
          substantial and valuable financial, psychological, and 
          emotional investment in their teams and their teams' names.
              (3) Professional sports teams promote civic pride, and 
          generate jobs, revenues, and other local economic development.
              (4) Professional sports teams remain in communities for 
          generations and represent much more than a business.
              (5) Current law does not protect the rights of sports fans 
          nor the interests of communities when a professional sports 
          team decides to relocate.
              (6) Professional sports team owners are positioned to 
          extract enormous benefits from communities, and they are taking 
          advantage of these opportunities.
              (7) Professional sports teams and leagues have directly 
          benefited from Federal legislation, including the following:
                      (A) Public law 87-331 (15 U.S.C. 1291 et seq; 
                  commonly referred to as the Sports Antitrust Broadcast 
                  Act of 1961).
                      (B) Public law 89-800 (80 Stat. 1508; commonly 
                  referred to as the Football Merger Act of 1966).
                      (C) Public law 93-107 (87 Stat. 350; relating to a 
                  prohibition of local television blackouts of network 
                  games which were sold out 72 hours in advance).
                      (D) Federal tax laws that allow depreciation of 
                  player contracts, capital gains, carryover losses, and 
                  the formation of Subchapter S corporations.
              (8) The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Los 
          Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission v. National Football 
          League (726 F.2d 1381 (9th cir. 1984); commonly referred to as 
          Raiders I), Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission v. 
          National Football League (791 F.2d. 1356 (9th cir. 1986); 
          commonly referred to as Raiders II), and National Basketball 
          Association v. SDC Basketball Club, Inc. (815 F.2d 562 (9th 
          cir. 1987); commonly referred to as Clippers) that a league has 
          the authority to prevent a professional sports team from 
          relocating from one community to another community.
  
  SEC. 3. TEAM NAME.
  
      (a) Conditions on Approval of Relocation.--In a case in which a 
  league approves the relocation of a professional sports team from a 
  community described in subsection (b)--
              (1) the registered mark that is used to identify the 
          professional sports team becomes the property of the league;
              (2) the league shall reserve the registered mark and any 
          portion of the registered mark for use only by the community 
          from which the team is relocating until the earlier of--
                      (A) the expiration of the registered mark; or
                      (B) the date on which the community informs the 
                  league that a professional sports team will not be 
                  using the registered mark; and
              (3) the registered mark or any portion of the registered 
          mark may not be used by another professional sports team in the 
          same league.
      (b) Communities Covered.--A community referred to in subsection (a) 
  is a community in which a professional sports team has been located for 
  a period of at least 10 years.
  
  SEC. 4. NOTICE OF PROPOSED RELOCATION OF A PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAM.
  
      (a) Requirement.--A professional sports team owner seeking to 
  relocate the team from one community to another shall provide notice of 
  the proposed relocation to the parties listed in subsection (b) not 
  later than 180 days before the commencement of the season in which the 
  professional sports team is to play in the new community.
      (b) Parties.--The notice required under subsection (a) shall be 
  provided to--
              (1) the local government for the community in which the 
          professional sports team's stadium or arena is located;
              (2) the owner or operator of such stadium or arena; and
              (3) each professional sports team that is a member of the 
          league for the professional sport concerned.
      (c) Additional Requirements.--The notice required under subsection 
  (a) shall--
              (1) be delivered in person or by certified mail;
              (2) be published in one or more newspapers of general 
          circulation within the community in which the professional 
          sports team is located; and
              (3) contain an identification of the proposed new location 
          for the professional sports team, a summary of the reasons for 
          moving the professional sports team based on the factors listed 
          in section 7, and the date on which the proposed change is 
          scheduled to become effective.
  
  SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT TO MAKE EXPANSION TEAMS AVAILABLE TO COMMUNITIES 
                UPON THE FULFILLMENT OF CERTAIN CONDITIONS.
  
      (a) League Requirement to Grant Franchise.--Not later than 12 
  months after the submission of the name of an investor under subsection 
  (b) to a league, the league shall grant to the investor a new expansion 
  professional sports team franchise from the league at a fee in an 
  amount no greater than an amount equal to 85 percent of the franchise 
  fee charged by the league for the last expansion professional sports 
  team franchise granted by the league.
      (b) Three-Year Opportunity for Investment.--The requirement of 
  subsection (a) applies to a league in any case in which--
              (1) the league approves, on or after January 1, 1993, the 
          relocation of a professional sports team from one community to 
          another;
              (2) not later than three years after such relocation, the 
          community in which the team was previously located submits to 
          the league the name of an investor to be granted a new 
          professional sports team franchise in such community by the 
          league; and
              (3) the investor demonstrates that he is financially able 
          to purchase and support a team by placing the amount described 
          under subsection (a), in addition to an amount equal to the 
          sale price of the last professional sports team sale approved 
          by the league, in an escrow account.
      (c) Ten-Year Relocation Prohibition.--In the case of a grant of a 
  professional sports team franchise under subsection (a), the league may 
  approve a resale of the team, but may not approve a relocation of the 
  team during the ten-year period beginning on the date of the grant of 
  the expansion professional sports team franchise.
      (d) Exception.--This section shall not apply in the case of a 
  community with a professional sports team if the team relocates within 
  60 miles of the community.
  
  SEC. 6. LEAGUE RELOCATION AUTHORITY AND RELOCATION DETERMINATION 
                CRITERIA.
  
      (a) League Authority.--It is not unlawful by reason of the 
  antitrust laws for a professional sports league to enforce rules or 
  agreements authorizing the membership of such league to decide whether 
  a professional sports team that is a member of the league may relocate 
  from one community to another.
      (b) Determination Criteria.--In determining whether to approve or 
  disapprove the relocation of a professional sports team from one 
  community to another, a league shall make specific findings regarding--
              (1) the extent to which fan loyalty to and support for the 
          team has been demonstrated during the team's tenure in the 
          community;
              (2) the degree to which the team has engaged in good faith 
          negotiations with appropriate persons concerning terms and 
          conditions under which the team would continue to play its 
          games in the community;
              (3) the degree to which the owners or managers of the team 
          have contributed to any circumstances which might demonstrate 
          the need for the relocation;
              (4) the extent to which the team, directly or indirectly, 
          received public financial support by means of any publicly 
          financed playing facility, special tax treatment, or any other 
          form of public financial support;
              (5) the adequacy of the stadium in which the team played 
          its home games in the previous season, and the willingness of 
          the stadium, arena authority, or the local government to remedy 
          any deficiencies in such facility;
              (6) whether the team has incurred net operating losses, 
          exclusive of depreciation and amortization, sufficient to 
          threaten the continued financial viability of the team;
              (7) whether any other team in the league is located in the 
          community in which the team is currently located;
              (8) whether the team proposes to relocate to a community in 
          which no other team in the league is located;
              (9) whether the stadium authority, if public, is not 
          opposed to such relocation; and
              (10) whether there is a bona fide investor offering fair 
          market value for the professional sports team and will retain 
          the team in the current community.
  
  SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT.
  
      (a) Penalties for Failure to Comply.--A league that violates the 
  requirement of section 5(a) by failing to grant a new professional 
  sports team franchise--
              (1) is liable to the community in which the team was 
          previously located for damages equal to three times the 
          purchase price of the team; and
              (2) is subject to the suspension for one season of its 
          antitrust exemption for pooling the broadcasting rights to 
          games under Public Law 87-331 (15 U.S.C. 1291 et seq.).
      (b) Enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission.--The provisions of 
  this Act shall be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission under the 
  Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
  
  SEC. 8. INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN MATTERS.
  
      Nothing in this Act shall--
              (1) alter, determine, or otherwise affect the applicability 
          or inapplicability of the antitrust laws, the labor laws, or 
          any other provision of law to the wages, hours, or other terms 
          and conditions of employment of players in any professional 
          sports league, to any employment matter regarding players in 
          any such league or to any collective bargaining rights and 
          privilege of any player union in any such league;
              (2) alter or affect the applicability or inapplicability of 
          the antitrust laws or any applicable Federal or State law 
          regarding broadcasting or telecasting, including those 
          contained under section 1291 of title 15, United States Code, 
          to any agreement between any professional sports league or a 
          professional sports team that is a member of the league and any 
          person not affiliated with such a league for the broadcasting 
          or telecasting of the games of such league or members of the 
          league on any form of television;
              (3) affect any contract, or provision of a contract, 
          relating to the use of a stadium or arena between a 
          professional sports team and the owner or operator of any 
          stadium or arena or any other person;
              (4) exempt from the antitrust laws any agreement to fix the 
          prices of admission to sports contests;
              (5) exempt from the antitrust laws any predatory practice 
          or other conduct with respect to competing sports leagues which 
          would otherwise be unlawful under the antitrust laws; or
              (6) except as provided in this Act, alter, determine, or 
          otherwise affect the applicability or inapplicability of the 
          antitrust laws to any act, contract, agreement, rule, course of 
          conduct, or other activity by, between, or among persons 
          engaging in, conducting, or participating in professional 
          football, basketball, hockey, or baseball.
  
  SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
  
      For purposes of this Act:
              (1) Antitrust laws.--The term ``antitrust laws''--
                      (A) has the meaning giving it in subsection (a) of 
                  the first section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)), 
                  except that such term includes section 5 of the Federal 
                  Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent such 
                  section applies to unfair methods of competition; and
                      (B) includes any State law similar to the laws 
                  referred to in subparagraph (A).
              (2) Community.--The term ``community'' means a city, 
          county, parish, town, township, village, or any other general 
          function governmental unit established by State law.
              (3) Investor.--The term ``investor'' means any person or 
          group of persons, including a community.
              (4) League.--The terms ``league'' and ``professional sports 
          league'' mean an association composed of two or more 
          professional sports teams (which have been engaged in 
          competition in their sport for more than seven years) which has 
          adopted, accepted, or put into effect rules for the conduct of 
          professional sports teams which are members of that association 
          and for the regulation of contests and exhibitions in which 
          such teams regularly engage. The term includes--
                      (A) the National Football League;
                      (B) the National Hockey League;
                      (C) the National Basketball Association; and
                      (D) Major League Baseball.
              (5) Located.--The term ``located'', with respect to a 
          professional sports team, means situated in the stadium or 
          arena in which the professional sports team plays its home 
          games.
              (6) Professional Sports Team.--The term ``professional 
          sports team'' means any group of professional athletes 
          organized to play major league football, hockey, basketball, or 
          baseball.
  
  SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.
  
      This Act takes effect as of August 1, 1995.
target: Fan Freedom and Community Protection Act of 1996 - Requires a professional sports team owner seeking to relocate the team to provide notice to the local government for the community in which the team's stadium or arena is located (home community), the sports authority with jurisdiction over the stadium or facility, any owner or operator of such stadium or facility, and the professional sports league concerned and each member team. 
  Requires such notice to:  (1) be delivered in person or by certified mail and published in one or more newspapers of general circulation within the home community; and (2) include the proposed new location, a summary of the reasons for moving, and the date on which the change is scheduled to become effective. 
  (Sec. 4) Directs a league, within a year after the submission of the name of an investor, to grant to the investor a new expansion team franchise at a fee no greater, and on terms and conditions no less favorable, than those granted to the last expansion team franchise granted.  Authorizes the league, for ten years after granting an expansion team franchise, to approve a resale of the team but not the team's relocation, except as provided herein.  Makes this section inapplicable to a team that relocates within 25 miles of the home community and remains within the State in which the home community is located. 
  (Sec. 5) Permits, under the antitrust laws, a league to enforce rules or agreements authorizing its membership to decide whether a member team may relocate.  Requires a league, in determining whether to approve such relocation, to make specific written findings, including findings regarding fan loyalty and the extent to which the team received public financial support. 
  Specifies that no decision by a league to permit a relocation shall be valid or final until the league has:  (1) conducted at least two public hearings in the home community; (2) permitted any interested member of the public to deliver oral, or file written, comments; (3) published written findings in a local home community newspaper setting forth the basis of such decision; and (4) delivered copies of such findings to the local government of the home community and any sports authority. 
  (Sec. 6) Requires (except where recovery of financial assistance is a remedy under the contract) an owner who relocates a team from one playing facility to another and who, in so doing, breaches a contract with the State or local government to pay to such government the value of financial assistance provided by the State or local government to the team.  Makes a team owner who violates the requirement of this section liable to the State or local government that provided financial assistance to the team for an amount equal to three times the value of the assistance provided. 
  (Sec. 7) Makes a league that violates the requirement to grant a new team franchise:  (1) liable to the home community in which a team was previously located for damages of three times the purchase price or market value of the team, whichever is greater; (2) subject to the suspension for one season of its antitrust exemption for pooling the broadcasting rights to games; and (3) subject to the loss of the antitrust exemption under this Act for the franchise relocation that led to the violation.  Sets forth enforcement provisions.
feat_title: Fan Freedom and Community Protection Act of 1996