Requires every entity responsible for the broadcast rights of a sports team which is part of a national or international professional sports league to ensure that every publicly broadcast game played by such sports team which is played in a facility that is benefitting or has benefitted from state funds, tax subsidies, eminent domain, or another valuable benefit that was made at a cost to the state, shall be made available to view at no cost within the county such facility is situated in and its adjoining counties.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6968
SPONSOR: Vanel TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to providing local
professional sports broadcasts at no cost
PURPOSE:
Provides for local professional sports broadcasts at no cost
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
1030(1): Defines terms.
1030(2)(a): Requires that an entity responsible for contracting the
broadcast rights of a sports team, where such sports team plays in a
stadium that was or is benefitting from state funds, tax subsidies,
eminent domain, or another valuable benefit that was made at a cost to
the state, make the broadcast available to the households of persons in
the county in which the stadium is situated and its adjoining counties.
Where the stadium is situated outside of the state but is affiliated
with the state, it must be provided for free in each county with a popu-
lation greater than one million.
1030(2) (b): Clarifies what constitutes "all households" in the required
areas.
1030(3)(a): Requires that a broadcast made pursuant to 1030(2),(a) be
the either the same audiovisual broadcast as a paid option or substan-
tially equivalent to the paid option.
1030(3)(b): Requires that the entity responsible for the broadcast
rights supply the no-cost broadcaster that complies with 1030(3)(a).
This also applies where the entity uses a third party to supply the
broadcast.
1030(3)(c): Prohibits the entity from imposing a restriction on the
no-cost broadcaster that would require them to reduce the quality of the
broadcast.
1030(4): Provides the attorney general with the power to seek an injunc-
tion and enforce penalties against an entity that does not comply.
1030(5): Severability.
JUSTIFICATION:
When a New York sports team uses New York State tax dollars or inceh-
tives to advance their economic gain, New Yorkers deserve the option to
view the games of their local teams at no cost. It is important for all
New Yorkers to have the ability to view their local sports teams regard-
less of their economic status. And with the ever-increasing subscription
costs of streaming platforms and cable, and the exorbitant costs to
attend games in person, low-income New Yorkers inevitably cannot enjoy
viewing their local sports team.
New York State is no stranger to using public funds to help finance the
construction of professional sports stadiums, infrastructure for major
sports leagues and the like. Over the past few decades, the state has
provided billions of dollars in incentives (incentives whose costs fall
on the taxpayer) to professional sports teams in New York State, many
for the construction of new, multi-billion-dollar stadiums.
The OUR STADIUM Act will require that any entity responsible for
contracting out broadcast rights for an athletic competition, where that
competition is played in a New York stadium that receives benefits at
the expense of taxpayers, be required to provide at least one free live
audiovisual viewing option to the households in the county and adjoining
counties in which the stadium sits that is similar in quality or the
same quality as the broadcast that is made available as part of a paid
subscription.
Today, for New York sports fans, if you want to watch your favorite team
play in the stadium that you just funded with your taxpayer dollars, you
have only two options: (1) shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars
for tickets; or (2) pay a monthly or yearly subscription fee to watch
the games.
Further, if you live in a New York stadium's local market, most leagues
will prohibit you from viewing the game to "encourage" you to attend or
watch it on a cable providers network or streaming platform - again,
back to the paid options. To be clear, while the justification for these
"blackout" policies is to encourage ticket sales, studies show that
blackout policies actually have no significant effect on ticket sales.
Currently, there is no legal requirement that professional sports leag-
ues provide free broadcasts to taxpaying fans, fans whose taxpayer
dollars are the only reason why these teams have a stadium to play in.
The OUR STADIUM Act will change that.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred and eightieth day after it
shall have become law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6968
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 18, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. VANEL -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Consumer Affairs and Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to providing local
professional sports broadcasts at no cost
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "open and unrestricted right to see team athletic displays for
3 inhabitants of unique markets act".
4 § 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new article 41-A
5 to read as follows:
6 ARTICLE 41-A
7 NO-COST SPORTS BROADCASTS
8 Section 1030. No-cost sports broadcasts.
9 § 1030. No-cost sports broadcasts. 1. As used in this section the
10 following terms shall have the following meanings:
11 (a) "No-cost broadcaster" shall mean the entity that is responsible
12 for disseminating a live athletic competition in any widely available
13 audiovisual format to the public.
14 (b) "National or international professional sports league" shall mean
15 any organized athletic league that is comprised of multiple teams from
16 multiple states or countries in which athletes are compensated by their
17 respective teams or the league and who compete against one another in
18 athletic competition.
19 (c) "Broadcast" shall mean to disseminate live content in an audiovis-
20 ual format.
21 2. (a) Every entity responsible for the broadcast rights of a sports
22 team which is part of a national or international professional sports
23 league shall ensure that every publicly broadcast athletic competition
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09319-03-5
A. 6968 2
1 played by such sports team which is played in a facility that is bene-
2 fitting or has benefitted from state funds, tax subsidies, eminent
3 domain, or another valuable benefit that was made at a cost to the
4 state, shall be made available to view at no cost to every household
5 within the county such facility is situated in and its adjoining coun-
6 ties, or if such sports team is affiliated with New York, but the facil-
7 ity in which such team's athletic competitions are played in is not
8 located within the state, such athletic competitions shall be made
9 available to view at no cost to all households located within any county
10 within the state with a population of one million or more.
11 (b) For purposes of this section, an athletic competition shall
12 presumptively be deemed to be made available to view at no cost to all
13 households located within the area required by this subdivision where
14 the entity responsible for the broadcast rights of a sports team
15 provides one or more reasonably accessible broadcasts of the athletic
16 competition that is reasonably calculated to reach the same number of
17 households that a paid option would have.
18 3. (a) A broadcast made available to view at no cost pursuant to
19 subdivision two of this section shall be either the same audiovisual
20 broadcast of such athletic competition which is available to view as
21 part of a paid service or shall be substantially equivalent.
22 (b) An entity responsible for the broadcast rights of a sports team as
23 described in subdivision two of this section shall supply, or require a
24 third party responsible for the paid broadcast of an athletic competi-
25 tion to supply, the no-cost broadcaster with an audiovisual broadcast of
26 an athletic competition which is the same or substantially equivalent to
27 the audiovisual broadcast of such athletic competition which is avail-
28 able to view as part of a paid service.
29 (c) An entity, or an employee, agent, or another at the direction of
30 the entity, shall not impose any restriction requiring the no-cost
31 broadcaster of an athletic competition to reduce the quality of the
32 audiovisual broadcast of such athletic competition to a quality that is
33 not the same or substantially equivalent to the audiovisual broadcast of
34 such athletic competition which is available to view as part of a paid
35 service.
36 4. Wherever the attorney general shall find that an entity has
37 violated this article, an application may be made by the attorney gener-
38 al in the name of the people of the state of New York to a court of
39 justice having jurisdiction to issue an injunction, and upon notice to
40 the defendant of not less than five days, to enjoin and restrain the
41 continuance of such violations; and if it shall appear to the satisfac-
42 tion of the court or justice, that the defendant has, in fact, violated
43 this section an injunction may be issued by such court or justice
44 enjoining and restraining any further violation, without requiring proof
45 that any entity has, in fact, been injured or damaged thereby. In any
46 such proceeding, the court may make allowances to the attorney general
47 as provided in paragraph six of subdivision (a) of section eighty-three
48 hundred three of the civil practice law and rules, and direct restitu-
49 tion. Whenever the court shall determine that a violation of this
50 section has occurred, the court may impose a civil penalty that, in the
51 court's discretion, will have the effect of deterring the entity from
52 engaging in future violations of this article. In connection with any
53 such proposed application, the attorney general is authorized to take
54 proof and make a determination of the relevant facts and to issue
55 subpoenas in accordance with the civil practice law and rules.
A. 6968 3
1 5. If any provision of this section or the application thereof to any
2 person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity thereof shall
3 not affect other provisions or applications of the section which can be
4 given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this
5 end the provisions of this section are severable.
6 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
7 it shall have become a law.
