HOUSE BILL No. 5884


     April 11, 2002, Introduced by Reps. Richardville, Patterson, George, Pappageorge, Drolet, Gosselin, Woodward, Palmer, Bishop,
Meyer, Woronchak, Kowall, Stewart, Vear, Faunce, Toy, Voorhees, Cassis, Switalski, Lemmons, Kolb, Schermesser, Birkholz and Thomas
and referred to the Committee on Commerce.


        A bill to prohibit restrictions regarding local access to

   the broadcast of certain sports events; and to provide

   penalties.

               THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

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             Sec. 1.  Except as otherwise provided in section 3, a person

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        shall not deny based on attendance another person's right to pro-

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        vide a live broadcast to an area within 75 miles of a sports

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        event that occurs in a stadium or facility that was constructed

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        or is operated, in whole or in part, with public funds.  Public

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        funds shall include the providing of tax credits and abatements.

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             Sec. 2.  This act applies only to an extension or renegotia-

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        tion of an existing contract or a new contract between the owners

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        and organizers of a sports event and a television broadcaster,

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        cable network, or satellite carrier.




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             Sec. 3.  This act does not apply if, 72 hours before the

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        sports event, the percentage of tickets not sold for the event is

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        greater than the percentage of public funds used in the total

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        cost of construction or operation of the stadium or facility.

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             Sec. 4.  (1) A person who violates this act is guilty of a

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        misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 90 days

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        or a fine of not more than $25,000.00, or both.

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             (2) As used in this act, "person" means an individual, cor-

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        poration, partnership, association, or any other legal entity.






































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