April 23, 2014, Introduced by Reps. VerHeulen and Singh and referred to the Committee on Regulatory Reform.
A bill to regulate certain contracts and transactions
involving athlete agents and student-athletes in this state; to
provide for registration and regulation of athlete agents; to
provide for powers and duties of certain state agencies; to require
disclosures; to provide for remedies and penalties; and to repeal
acts and parts of acts.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"uniform athlete agents act."
Sec. 2. As used in this act:
(a) "Agency contract" means an agreement in which a student-
athlete authorizes a person to negotiate or solicit on behalf of
the student-athlete a professional sports services contract or an
endorsement contract.
(b) "Athlete agent" means an individual who enters into an
agency contract with a student-athlete or, directly or indirectly,
recruits or solicits a student-athlete to enter into an agency
contract. The term includes an individual who represents to the
public that the individual is an athlete agent. The term does not
include a spouse, parent, sibling, grandparent, or guardian of the
student-athlete or an individual acting solely on behalf of a
professional sports team or professional sports organization.
(c) "Athletic director" means an individual responsible for
administering the overall athletic program of an educational
institution or, if an educational institution has separately
administered athletic programs for male students and female
students, the athletic program for males or the athletic program
for females, as appropriate.
(d) "Contact" means a communication, direct or indirect,
between an athlete agent and a student-athlete, to recruit or
solicit the student-athlete to enter into an agency contract.
(e) "Department" means the department of licensing and
regulatory affairs.
(f) "Endorsement contract" means an agreement under which a
student-athlete is employed or receives consideration to use on
behalf of the other party any value that the student-athlete may
have because of publicity, reputation, following, or fame obtained
because of athletic ability or performance.
(g) "Intercollegiate sport" means a sport played at the
collegiate level for which eligibility requirements for
participation by a student-athlete are established by a national
association for the promotion or regulation of collegiate
athletics.
(h) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust,
estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association,
joint venture, or other legal or commercial entity; a government or
governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; or a public
corporation.
(i) "Professional sports services contract" means an agreement
under which an individual is employed, or agrees to render
services, as a player on a professional sports team, with a
professional sports organization, or as a professional athlete.
(j) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible
medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is
retrievable in perceivable form.
(k) "Registration" means registration as an athlete agent
under this act.
(l) "State" means this state or any other state of the United
States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States
Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to
the jurisdiction of the United States.
(m) "Student-athlete" means an individual who engages in, is
eligible to engage in, or may be eligible in the future to engage
in, any intercollegiate sport. If an individual is permanently
ineligible to participate in a particular intercollegiate sport,
the individual is not a student-athlete for purposes of that sport.
Sec. 3. (1) By acting as an athlete agent in this state, a
nonresident individual appoints the department as the individual's
agent for service of process in any civil action in this state
related to the individual's acting as an athlete agent in this
state.
(2) The department may issue subpoenas for any material that
is relevant to the administration of this act.
Sec. 4. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2), an
individual may not act as an athlete agent in this state if he or
she does not hold a certificate of registration under section 6 or
8.
(2) Before being issued a certificate of registration, an
individual may act as an athlete agent in this state for all
purposes except signing an agency contract, if both of the
following are met:
(a) A student-athlete or another person acting on behalf of
the student-athlete initiates communication with the individual.
(b) Within 7 days after an initial act as an athlete agent,
the individual submits an application for registration as an
athlete agent in this state.
(3) An agency contract resulting from conduct in violation of
this section is void and the athlete agent shall return any
consideration received under the contract.
Sec. 5. (1) An applicant for registration shall submit an
application for registration to the department in a form prescribed
by the department. An application filed under this section is a
public record and available to the public under the freedom of
information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246. The application
must be in the name of an individual and, except as otherwise
provided in subsection (2), signed or otherwise authenticated by
the applicant under penalty of perjury and state or contain all of
the following:
(a) The name of the applicant and the address of the
applicant's principal place of business.
(b) The name of the applicant's business or employer, if
applicable.
(c) Any business or occupation engaged in by the applicant for
the 5-year period preceding the date of submission of the
application.
(d) A description of all of the following about the applicant:
(i) His or her formal training as an athlete agent.
(ii) His or her practical experience as an athlete agent.
(iii) His or her educational background relating to the
applicant's activities as an athlete agent.
(e) The names and addresses of 3 individuals not related to
the applicant who are willing to serve as references.
(f) The name, sport, and last known team for each individual
for whom the applicant acted as an athlete agent during the 5 years
immediately preceding the date of submission of the application.
(g) The names and addresses of all of the following:
(i) If the athlete agent's business is not a corporation, the
partners, members, officers, managers, associates, or profit-
sharers of the business.
(ii) If a corporation employs the athlete agent, the officers,
directors, and any shareholder of the corporation that has an
interest of 5% or more.
(h) Whether the applicant or any person named under
subdivision (g) has been convicted of a crime that, if committed in
this state, would be a crime involving moral turpitude or a felony,
and if so, identification of the crime.
(i) Whether there has been any administrative or judicial
determination that the applicant or any person named under
subdivision (g) has made a false, misleading, deceptive, or
fraudulent representation.
(j) Any instance in which the conduct of the applicant or any
person named under subdivision (g) resulted in the imposition of a
sanction, suspension, or declaration of ineligibility to
participate in an interscholastic or intercollegiate athletic event
on a student-athlete or educational institution.
(k) Any sanction, suspension, or disciplinary action taken
against the applicant or any person named under subdivision (g)
arising out of occupational or professional conduct.
(l) Whether there has been any denial of an application for,
suspension or revocation of, or refusal to renew, the registration
or licensure of the applicant or any person named under subdivision
(g) as an athlete agent in any state.
(2) An individual who has submitted an application for, and
holds a certificate of, registration or licensure as an athlete
agent in another state, may submit a copy of the application and
certificate in lieu of submitting an application in the form
prescribed under subsection (2). The department shall accept the
application and the certificate from the other state as an
application for registration in this state if the application to
the other state meets all of the following:
(a) Was submitted in the other state within the 6-month period
preceding the submission of the application in this state and the
applicant certifies that the information contained in the
application is current.
(b) Contains information substantially similar to or more
comprehensive than that required in an application submitted in
this state.
(c) Was signed by the applicant under penalty of perjury.
Sec. 6. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2),
the department shall issue a certificate of registration to an
individual who complies with section 5(1) or whose application has
been accepted under section 5(2).
(2) The department may refuse to issue a certificate of
registration if the department determines that the applicant has
engaged in conduct that has a significant adverse effect on the
applicant's fitness to act as an athlete agent. In making the
determination, the department may consider whether the applicant
has done any of the following:
(a) Been convicted of a crime that, if committed in this
state, would be a crime involving moral turpitude or a felony.
(b) Made a materially false, misleading, deceptive, or
fraudulent representation in the application or as an athlete
agent.
(c) Engaged in conduct that would disqualify the applicant
from serving in a fiduciary capacity.
(d) Engaged in conduct prohibited under section 14.
(e) Had a registration or license as an athlete agent
suspended, revoked, or denied or been refused renewal of a
registration or license as an athlete agent in any state.
(f) Engaged in conduct the consequence of which was that a
sanction, suspension, or declaration of ineligibility to
participate in an interscholastic or intercollegiate athletic event
was imposed on a student-athlete or educational institution.
(g) Engaged in conduct that significantly adversely reflects
on the applicant's credibility, honesty, or integrity.
(3) In making a determination under subsection (2), the
department shall consider all of the following:
(a) How recently the conduct occurred.
(b) The nature of the conduct and the context in which it
occurred.
(c) Any other relevant conduct of the applicant.
(4) An athlete agent may apply to renew a registration by
submitting an application for renewal in a form prescribed by the
department. An application filed under this section is a public
record and available to the public under the freedom of information
act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246. The application for renewal
must be signed by the applicant under penalty of perjury and must
contain current information on all matters required in an original
registration.
(5) An individual who has submitted an application for renewal
of registration or licensure in another state, in lieu of
submitting an application for renewal in the form prescribed under
subsection (4), may file a copy of the application for renewal and
a valid certificate of registration or licensure from the other
state. The department shall accept the application for renewal from
the other state as an application for renewal in this state if the
department determines the application to the other state meets all
of the following:
(a) Was submitted in the other state within six months next
preceding the filing in this state and the applicant certifies the
information contained in the application for renewal is current.
(b) Contains information substantially similar to or more
comprehensive than that required in an application for renewal
submitted in this state.
(c) Was signed by the applicant under penalty of perjury.
(6) A certificate of registration or a renewal of a
registration is valid for 2 years.
Sec. 7. (1) The department may suspend, revoke, or refuse to
renew a registration for conduct that would have justified denial
of registration under section 6(2).
(2) The department may deny, suspend, revoke, or refuse to
renew a certificate of registration or licensure only after proper
notice and an opportunity for a hearing conducted under the
provisions of the administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA
306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328.
Sec. 8. The department may issue a temporary certificate of
registration while an application for registration or renewal of
registration is pending.
Sec. 9. An application for registration or renewal of
registration must be accompanied by a fee in 1 of the following
amounts:
(a) For an initial application for registration, $400.00.
(b) For an application for registration based on a certificate
of registration or licensure issued by another state, $250.00.
(c) For an application for renewal of registration, $250.00.
(d) For an application for renewal of registration based on an
application for renewal of registration or licensure submitted in
another state, $200.00.
Sec. 10. (1) An agency contract must be in a record, signed or
otherwise authenticated by the parties.
(2) An agency contract must state or contain all of the
following:
(a) The amount and method of calculating the consideration to
be paid by the student-athlete for services to be provided by the
athlete agent under the contract and any other consideration the
athlete agent has received or will receive from any other source
for entering into the contract or for providing the services.
(b) The name of any person not listed in the application for
registration or renewal of registration who will be compensated
because the student-athlete signed the agency contract.
(c) A description of any expenses that the student-athlete
agrees to reimburse.
(d) A description of the services to be provided to the
student-athlete.
(e) The duration of the contract.
(f) The date of execution of the contract.
(3) An agency contract must contain, in close proximity to the
signature of the student-athlete, a conspicuous notice in boldface
type in capital letters stating the following:
"WARNING TO STUDENT-ATHLETE
IF YOU SIGN THIS CONTRACT:
(1) YOU MAY LOSE YOUR ELIGIBILITY TO COMPETE AS A STUDENT-ATHLETE
IN YOUR SPORT;
(2) IF YOU HAVE AN ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, WITHIN 72 HOURS AFTER
ENTERING INTO THIS CONTRACT, BOTH YOU AND YOUR ATHLETE AGENT MUST
NOTIFY YOUR ATHLETIC DIRECTOR; AND
(3) YOU MAY CANCEL THIS CONTRACT WITHIN 14 DAYS AFTER SIGNING IT.
CANCELLATION OF THIS CONTRACT MAY NOT REINSTATE YOUR ELIGIBILITY.".
(4) An agency contract that does not conform to this section
is voidable by the student-athlete. If a student-athlete voids an
agency contract, the student-athlete is not required to pay any
consideration under the contract or to return any consideration
received from the athlete agent to induce the student-athlete to
enter into the contract.
(5) The athlete agent shall give a record of the signed or
otherwise authenticated agency contract to the student-athlete at
the time of execution.
Sec. 11. (1) Within 72 hours after entering into an agency
contract or before the next scheduled athletic event in which the
student-athlete may participate, whichever occurs first, the
athlete agent shall give notice in a record of the existence of the
contract to the athletic director of the educational institution at
which the student-athlete is enrolled or the athlete agent has
reasonable grounds to believe the student-athlete intends to
enroll.
(2) Within 72 hours after entering into an agency contract or
before the next athletic event in which the student-athlete may
participate, whichever occurs first, the student-athlete shall
inform the athletic director of the educational institution at
which the student-athlete is enrolled that he or she has entered
into an agency contract.
Sec. 12. (1) A student-athlete may cancel an agency contract
by giving notice of the cancellation to the athlete agent in a
record within 14 days after the contract is signed.
(2) A student-athlete may not waive the right to cancel an
agency contract.
(3) If a student-athlete cancels an agency contract, the
student-athlete is not required to pay any consideration under the
contract or to return any consideration received from the athlete
agent to induce the student-athlete to enter into the contract.
Sec. 13. (1) An athlete agent shall retain all of the
following records for a period of at least 5 years:
(a) The name and address of each individual represented by the
athlete agent.
(b) Any agency contract entered into by the athlete agent.
(c) Any direct costs incurred by the athlete agent in the
recruitment or solicitation of a student-athlete to enter into an
agency contract.
(2) An athlete agent shall make any records the agent is
required to retain under subsection (1) available for inspection by
the department during normal business hours.
Sec. 14. (1) An athlete agent, with the intent to induce a
student-athlete to enter into an agency contract, shall not do any
of the following:
(a) Give any materially false or misleading information or
make a materially false promise or representation.
(b) Furnish anything of value to a student-athlete before the
student-athlete enters into the agency contract.
(c) Furnish anything of value to any individual other than the
student-athlete or another registered athlete agent.
(2) An athlete agent shall not intentionally do any of the
following:
(a) Initiate contact with a student-athlete unless registered
under this act.
(b) Refuse or fail to retain or permit inspection of the
records the athlete agent is required to retain under section 13.
(c) Fail to register if required to register under section 4.
(d) Provide materially false or misleading information in an
application for registration or renewal of registration.
(e) Predate or postdate an agency contract.
(f) Fail to notify a student-athlete before the student-
athlete signs or otherwise authenticates an agency contract for a
particular sport that the signing or authentication may make the
student-athlete ineligible to participate as a student-athlete in
that sport.
Sec. 15. An athlete agent who violates section 14 is guilty of
a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000.00.
Sec. 16. (1) An educational institution has a right of action
against an athlete agent or a former student-athlete for damages
caused by a violation of this act. In an action under this section,
the court may award to the prevailing party costs and reasonable
attorney's fees.
(2) Damages of an educational institution under subsection (1)
include losses and expenses incurred because, as a result of the
conduct of an athlete agent or former student-athlete, the
educational institution was injured by a violation of this act or
was penalized, disqualified, or suspended from participation in
athletics by a national association for the promotion and
regulation of athletics, by an athletic conference, or by
reasonable self-imposed disciplinary action taken to mitigate
sanctions likely to be imposed by such an organization.
(3) A right of action under this section does not accrue until
the educational institution discovers or by the exercise of
reasonable diligence would have discovered the violation by the
athlete agent or former student-athlete.
(4) Any liability of the athlete agent or the former student-
athlete under this section is several and not joint.
(5) This act does not restrict rights, remedies, or defenses
of any person under law or equity.
Sec. 17. The department may assess an administrative fine
against an athlete agent, in the amount of not more than $1,000.00,
for a violation of this act.
Sec. 18. In applying and construing this uniform act,
consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of
the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact
it.
Sec. 19. The provisions of this act governing the legal
effect, validity, or enforceability of electronic records or
signatures, and of contracts formed or performed with the use of
those records or signatures, conform to the requirements of section
102 of the electronic signatures in global and national commerce
act, 15 USC 7002, and supersede, modify, and limit the requirements
of the electronic signatures in global and national commerce act,
15 USC 7001 to 7031.
Enacting section 1. This act takes effect 90 days after the
date this act is enacted into law.
Enacting section 2. Section 411e of the Michigan penal code,
1931 PA 328, MCL 750.411e, is repealed.