Keeps professional sports franchises in their home communities by requiring franchise owners offer the franchise for sale prior to relocating or eliminating the franchise.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9845
IN SENATE
April 8, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism,
Parks and Recreation
AN ACT to amend the arts and cultural affairs law, in relation to keep-
ing professional sports franchises in their home communities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The arts and cultural affairs law is amended by adding a
2 new title H to read as follows:
3 TITLE H
4 PROFESSIONAL SPORTS FRANCHISES
5 ARTICLE 27
6 HOME TEAM ACT
7 Section 27.01. Definitions.
8 27.03. Prohibition on moving and terminating certain franchises.
9 27.05. Appraisal.
10 27.07. Enforcement.
11 § 27.01. Definitions. As used in this article:
12 1. The term "community", with respect to a franchise, means the metro-
13 politan statistical area, as determined by the federal office of manage-
14 ment and budget, in which the franchise plays the greatest number of
15 regular season home games within its league or, where a franchise does
16 not plays its greatest number of regular season home games within its
17 league within a metropolitan statistical area, the county in which the
18 franchise plays the greatest number of regular season home games within
19 its league.
20 2. The term "consortium" means a group of private investors created
21 specifically for a particular transaction of acquiring a sports fran-
22 chise.
23 3. The term "franchise" means a member professional sports team of a
24 league.
25 4. The term "franchise owner" means a person who owns a franchise.
26 5. The term "home community cooperative", with respect to a franchise,
27 means an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15483-01-6
S. 9845 2
1 their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations
2 through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise that is
3 based in the community in which the franchise plays the greatest number
4 of regular season home games within its league.
5 6. The term "league" includes the National Football League, the
6 National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the National
7 Hockey League, Major League Soccer, the Women's National Basketball
8 Association, the National Women's Soccer League, and any other profes-
9 sional sports leagues designated as such by the secretary of state.
10 7. The term "local government entity", with respect to a franchise,
11 means any unit of local government with jurisdiction over land use deci-
12 sions in the location in which the franchise plays the greatest number
13 of regular season home games within its league, including the state.
14 8. The term "nonprofit organization" means any organization registered
15 as a public charity or not-for-profit corporation under state or federal
16 law.
17 9. The term "private company" means a business entity the securities
18 of which do not trade on public markets.
19 10. The term "proper notice", with respect to proposed relocation or
20 elimination of a franchise, means notice that is provided not later than
21 one year prior to the commencement of the season in which the franchise
22 is to play home games in the proposed new location or the date of fran-
23 chise elimination to all interested parties, the news media, and on all
24 social media platforms of the franchise, and includes, but is not limit-
25 ed to:
26 (a) identification of the proposed new home location, if applicable;
27 (b) a summary of the reasons for the proposed relocation or franchise
28 elimination; and
29 (c) the date on which the proposed relocation or franchise elimination
30 would be effective.
31 11. The term "social media platform" means a website or internet medi-
32 um that:
33 (a) permits a person to become a registered user, establish an
34 account, or create a profile for the purpose of allowing users to
35 create, share, and view user-generated content through such an account
36 or profile;
37 (b) enables one or more users to generate content that can be viewed
38 by other users of the website or medium; and
39 (c) primarily serves as a medium for users to interact with content
40 generated by other users of the website or medium.
41 § 27.03. Prohibition on moving and terminating certain franchises. 1.
42 (a) Nothing in this article shall be construed to preempt, diminish, or
43 interfere with the right of employees to collectively bargain over terms
44 and conditions of employment.
45 (b) Nothing in this article shall be construed to preempt, diminish,
46 or interfere with a collective bargaining agreement that is in place on
47 the effective date of this article.
48 2. Franchises with a community within the state shall, as a matter of
49 public policy:
50 (a) be able to be owned by a government entity or members of the
51 general public; or
52 (b) be able to have ownership be transferred to a government entity or
53 members of the general public.
54 3. In accordance with subdivisions four and five of this section, a
55 franchise owner may not move the franchise from their home community,
56 move the franchise from the state, or eliminate the franchise unless the
S. 9845 3
1 franchise owner offers an entity specified in subdivision four of this
2 section a fair opportunity to purchase such franchise.
3 4. A fair opportunity to purchase a franchise pursuant to subdivision
4 three of this section shall be provided, in descending priority, to the
5 following entities which, as a term of such purchase, shall be required
6 to keep such franchise within its community:
7 (a) A local government entity or a home community cooperative.
8 (b) A nonprofit organization that operates in the community or a publ-
9 ic-private partnership composed of a local government entity with a home
10 community cooperative or nonprofit organization headquartered in such
11 unit of local government.
12 (c) A private person, private consortium, or company that resides in
13 the community or operates in the community.
14 5. At least six months prior to the relocation or elimination of a
15 franchise, the franchise owner shall:
16 (a) provide proper notice regarding the proposed new location of the
17 franchise or proposed franchise elimination to the comptroller, as
18 determined by the comptroller, and the community, as determined by the
19 secretary of state;
20 (b) offer the franchise for purchase for a fair price as determined
21 under section 27.05 of this article; and
22 (c) if an offer is made which is at or above the fair price, accept an
23 offer made by an entity, giving priority as described under subdivision
24 four of this section.
25 § 27.05. Appraisal. 1. Upon a franchise owner providing proper notice
26 under paragraph (a) of subdivision five of section 27.03 of this arti-
27 cle, the comptroller shall establish a team of professionally trained
28 appraisers to evaluate a fair price for a franchise.
29 2. The evaluation of a fair price undertaken pursuant to this section
30 shall deduct from the appraisal amount the total amount of any govern-
31 ment payment, credit, or subsidy provided for the construction of any
32 stadium where the franchise played the majority of their home games.
33 § 27.07. Enforcement. 1. The attorney general shall assess against a
34 franchise owner in violation of this article a fine of thirty thousand
35 dollars for each day the owner is in violation of this article.
36 2. A local government entity may bring a civil action for violation of
37 this article in an appropriate district court against a franchise owner
38 for injunctive and monetary relief.
39 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
