“To keep professional sports franchises in their home communities, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section sets forth congressional findings on the economic and cultural impacts of professional sports franchises on local communities; the detrimental effects of franchise relocations, including the use of public funds for new stadiums and displacement of residents; and the substantial effect of such franchises on interstate commerce due to nationwide broadcasting, interstate travel by teams and fans, and league revenue-sharing models.
This section prohibits professional sports leagues operating in or affecting interstate commerce—including the National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, Women's National Basketball Association, and National Women's Soccer League—from requiring franchise owners to ban ownership or transfers of franchises to government entities or the general public. The section further requires a franchise owner, before relocating a franchise across state lines or eliminating it, to provide a fair opportunity to purchase to priority entities in the franchise's community (i.e., the metropolitan statistical area where it plays the most regular-season home games), as follows: (1) a local government entity or home community cooperative; (2) a nonprofit organization operating in the community or public-private partnership involving local or state government with a community-based cooperative or nonprofit; or (3) a private person, consortium, or company residing or operating in the community. A fair opportunity entails proper notice at least one year prior to the proposed change (including reasons and effective date, publicized to interested parties, media, and franchise social media), an offer at fair market value as determined by appraisers established by the Secretary of the Treasury (deducting government payments, credits, or subsidies for the franchise's primary stadium), and acceptance of any qualifying offer at or above that value. (Thus, this enables community entities to retain franchises locally.) Violations are enforceable by the Attorney General via civil penalties of $30,000 per day or by civil action from a unit of local government or state seeking injunctive or monetary relief. The section preserves rights to collectively bargain over employment terms and does not affect existing collective bargaining agreements.