STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8437
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 11, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. ORTT -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to lowering the
financial burden of professional wrestling promoters; and to repeal
certain provisions of such law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 1000 of the general business law,
2 as added by chapter 32 of the laws of 2016, is amended and two new
3 subdivisions 7 and 8 are added to read as follows:
4 3. "Combative sport" means any unarmed bout, contest, competition,
5 match, or exhibition undertaken to entertain an audience, wherein the
6 participants primarily grapple [or wrestle], or deliver blows of any
7 kind to, or use force in any way to manipulate, the body of another
8 participant, and wherein the outcome and score depend entirely on such
9 activities.
10 7. "Professional wrestling" means a performance of sports enter-
11 tainment in which two or more participants perform in mock or theatrical
12 unarmed, hand-to-hand combat for the purpose of entertainment, do not
13 intentionally cause bodily harm to themselves or other participants, and
14 the outcome of such exhibition is predetermined or the participants do
15 not necessarily strive to win. This definition shall not include any
16 wrestling contest or exhibition where the contestants are all amateurs
17 and such events are sponsored by and under the supervision of any
18 university, college, school, or other institution of learning, recog-
19 nized by the regents of the state of New York.
20 8. "Wrestling exhibition", "wrestling contest", or "wrestling event"
21 means any demonstration of professional wrestling that is presented to
22 the public.
23 § 2. Section 1001 of the general business law, as added by chapter 32
24 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13325-02-5
S. 8437 2
1 § 1001. Combative sports authorized. Combative sports conducted under
2 the supervision of the commission, under the supervision of an author-
3 ized sanctioning entity, or as provided for in section one thousand
4 twenty-one of this article, are hereby authorized. Authorized combative
5 sports include, amateur and professional boxing, amateur and profes-
6 sional wrestling, sparring, kick boxing, single discipline martial arts
7 and mixed martial arts, pursuant to the provisions of this article.
8 § 3. Subdivision 10 of section 1015 of the general business law, as
9 added by chapter 32 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
10 10. In addition to the bond required by subdivision nine of this
11 section, each applicant for a license to conduct an authorized profes-
12 sional combative sport shall execute and file with the secretary of
13 state a bond in an amount to be determined by the commission to be
14 approved as to form and sufficiency of sureties thereon by the secretary
15 of state, conditioned for and guaranteeing the payment of professionals'
16 [and professional wrestlers'] purses, salaries of club employees
17 licensed by the commission, and the legitimate expenses of printing
18 tickets and all advertising material.
19 § 4. Subdivision 11 of section 1015 of the general business law is
20 REPEALED.
21 § 5. Section 1017 of the general business law, as added by chapter 32
22 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
23 § 1017. Professional wrestling; promoters. 1. [For the purposes of
24 this article, "professional wrestling" shall mean an activity in which
25 participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of provid-
26 ing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide
27 athletic contest or competition.] A professional wrestling event may not
28 be held in this state except under a license issued in accordance with
29 this article and the rules of the commission, unless such event is
30 exempt from licensure.
31 2. Every person, partnership or corporation promoting one or more
32 professional wrestling exhibitions in this state shall be required to
33 obtain from the commission an annual license to conduct such exhibitions
34 subject to terms and conditions promulgated by the commission pursuant
35 to rule and consistent with the applicable provisions of this article.
36 Each applicant shall pay an annual fee established by the commission
37 pursuant to rule, provided, however, that such fee shall not exceed two
38 hundred twenty-five dollars.
39 3. A licensed promoter of a professional wrestling exhibition in the
40 state shall notify the athletic commission at least ten days in advance
41 of the holding of the exhibition. [Each such promoter shall execute and
42 file with the comptroller a bond in an amount not less than twenty thou-
43 sand dollars to be approved as to form and sufficiency of sureties ther-
44 eon by the comptroller, conditioned for and guaranteeing the payment of
45 professional wrestler's purses, salaries of club employees licensed by
46 the commission, the legitimate expenses of printing tickets and all
47 advertising material, payments to sponsoring organizations, and the
48 applicable state and local sales and compensating use tax.]
49 4. A licensed promoter of a professional wrestling exhibition shall
50 provide for a [licensed physician] registered nurse or other medical
51 professional to be present at each exhibition, and such [physician]
52 medical professional shall examine each wrestler prior to each perform-
53 ance, and each such pre-performance examination shall be conducted in
54 accordance with regulations prescribed by the commission.
55 5. Every licensed promoter of professional wrestling who promotes six
56 or more exhibitions in the state in a calendar year must have in place
S. 8437 3
1 an anti-drug plan and file with the commission a written copy of the
2 plan. Each such plan shall address the use of a controlled substance
3 defined in article thirty-three of the public health law, and such plan
4 shall at minimum provide for the following:
5 (a) dissemination of educational materials to professional wrestlers
6 who perform for any such promoter including a list of prohibited drugs
7 and available rehabilitation services; and
8 (b) a referral procedure to permit any such professional wrestler to
9 obtain rehabilitation services.
10 § 6. The state athletic commission shall promulgate rules and regu-
11 lations to implement the provisions of this section.
12 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
