Bill Text: CA AB2100 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Athletes: mixed martial arts fighters.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-07-02 - From committee without further action pursuant to Joint Rule 62(a). [AB2100 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB2100-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2100 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 17, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 2, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Alejo
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to amend Section 18849 of, and to add Section 18649 to, the
Business and Professions Code, relating to athletes.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2100, as amended, Alejo. Athletes: mixed martial arts fighters.
Existing law, the State Athletic Commission Act, creates the
State Athletic Commission and makes it responsible for licensing and
regulating boxing, kickboxing, and martial arts matches and wrestling
exhibitions. Existing law prohibits a promoter from having a
proprietary interest in a boxer or mixed martial arts fighter without
the approval of the commission.
This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to protect
mixed martial arts fighters from exploitive, oppressive, or coercive
contracts and to support the establishment of standards to protect
these fighters. This bill would require a licensed
promoter to provide a copy of any written agreement with a
professional athlete as well as a written and sworn statement, made
under penalty of perjury, that there are no other
agreements between the promoter and athlete with respect to that
contest, and a list of any fees charged or reductions in the amount
paid to the athlete, to the commission before the promoter can
receive compensation from a boxing or mixed martial arts contest. By
requiring a statement to be made under penalty of perjury, the bill
would expand that crime and would thereby impose a state-mandated
local program. The bill would require the commission to establish
and enforce, upon receiving a complaint, a professional
code of conduct for licensees, and would require the
commission to suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew the license of a
mixed martial arts promoter who enters into a coercive contract, as
defined, with a mixed martial arts fighter ,
. The bill would also require the commission to suspend, revoke, or
refuse to renew the license of a mixed martial arts promoter or
fighter who has been convicted of a felony or other specified
crimes, or who has engaged in certain other actions.
This bill would also exempt documents provided to the commission
by promoters from disclosure to the public based on a finding by the
Legislature that these documents contain proprietary business
information.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
act to protect mixed martial arts fighters from being subjected to
exploitive, oppressive, or coercive contractual practices that
violate the athletes' freedom to work and their ability to support
themselves and their families as professional athletes. Therefore, it
is necessary and appropriate to establish standards to protect the
rights and welfare of mixed martial arts fighters licensed under this
chapter.
SEC. 2. Section 18649 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
18649. To ensure that individuals and entities licensed under
this act observe common standards of decency, the commission shall,
in consultation with the Association of Boxing Commissioners,
establish a professional code of ethical conduct for mixed martial
arts promoters and fighters. Notwithstanding any other provision of
this code, upon receiving a complaint, the commission
shall enforce the code of ethical conduct and may suspend, revoke, or
refuse to issue or renew the license of any mixed martial arts
promoter or fighter that it finds has violated this code of conduct.
Violations of this code shall include, but not be limited to, the
following:
(a) Engaging in actions or activities such as acts resulting in
felony convictions or convictions for crimes involving moral
turpitude, sexual assault, ethnic or religious slurs, hate speech, or
obscene language, failing to respond to a subpoena, or incurring
sanctions imposed by a judge or court of law.
(b) Entering into a promotional contract in California, or
into a contract for a contest to take place in California, with
a mixed martial arts fighter licensed in the State of California if
the contract contains one or more coercive provisions. For purposes
of this section, a coercive contract provision includes, but is not
limited to, a provision that does any of the following:
(1) Assigns any exclusive future merchandising rights to a
promoter for an unreasonable period beyond the term of the
promotional contract.
(2) Automatically renews a promotional contract or extends the
term without good faith negotiation, or extends the term of any
promotional contract of a fighter who participates in a championship
contest for a period greater than 12 months beyond the existing
contract termination period.
(3) Unreasonably restricts a mixed martial arts fighter from
obtaining outside sponsorship from a firm, product, or individual.
(4) Requires a mixed martial arts fighter to relinquish all legal
claims that the fighter has, or may acquire in the future, against
the promoter beyond assumption of the risks inherent in the sport of
mixed martial arts and the fighter's participation in pre and post
bout events and activities.
(5) Requires a fighter to grant or waive any additional rights not
contained in the promotional contract as a condition precedent to
the fighter's participation in any contest.
(1) Is for a period exceeding five years.
(2) Automatically extends the term or conditions of the contract.
(3) Requires a party to negotiate exclusively with the other
party.
(4) Grants a party the right to match the term of an offer.
(5) Grants a party unrestricted rights to use the identity of the
other party.
SEC. 3. Section 18849 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
18849. (a) No promoter licensed in the State of California
, nor any person having a proprietary interest in the promoter,
shall have, either directly or indirectly, any proprietary interest
in a boxer or martial arts fighter competing on the premises owned,
leased, or rented by the promoter without written approval from the
commission.
(b) No promoter licensed in the State of California
shall be entitled to receive any compensation directly or indirectly
in connection with a contest until the promoter provides to the
commission the following:
(1) A copy of any written agreement to which the promoter is a
party with any professional athlete or contestant licensed under this
act.
(2) A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that there are no
other agreements, written or oral, between the promoter and the
athlete with respect to that contest.
(3) All fees, charges, and expenses that will be assessed by or
through the promoter on the athlete participating in the event,
including any portion of the athlete's purse that the promoter will
receive.
(4) Any reduction in the athlete's purse contrary to a previous
agreement between the promoter and the athlete.
(c) Neither the commission nor any person acting on its behalf may
disclose to the public any agreement furnished by a promoter under
this section except to the extent required to comply with an order in
a legal, administrative, or judicial proceeding.
SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 3 of this
act, which amends Section 18849 of the Business and Professions Code,
imposes a limitation on the public's right of access to the meetings
of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies
within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California
Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the
Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest
protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that
interest:
The Legislature finds and declares that the limitation upon the
disclosure of contracts between promoters and mixed martial arts
fighters is necessary to protect proprietary business and trade
secret information.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
