,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #agba  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,november #ah1 
#bjac,mr4 ,blumenthal 7for himself and  
,mr4 ,mc,cain7 introduced the following 
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on the ,judiciary  ,a 
,,bill  ,to decrease the frequency of   
sports blackouts1 to require the        
application of the antitrust laws to    
,major ,league ,baseball1 and for other 
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,furthering ,access 
and ,networks for ,sports ,act or the   
,,fans ,act4  #b4 ,definition ,in this  
,act1 the term ,sports ,broadcasting    
,act of #aifa means the ,act of         
,september #cj1 #aifa 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4    
#abia et seq474  #c4 ,amendments to the 
,sports ,broadcasting ,act of #aifa  7a7
 ,elimination of antitrust exemption for
 sports blackouts during retransmission 
consent negotiations ,section #a of the 
,sports ,broadcasting ,act of #aifa 7#ae
 ,u4,s4,c4 #abia7 is amended by adding  

at the end the following3 ,the antitrust
 exemption established under this       
section shall not apply to any league of
 clubs participating in professional    
football1 baseball1 basketball1 or      
hockey contests that does not expressly 
prohibit sponsored telecast licensees of
 such league1 and any agreement with any
 video licensee1 from intentionally     
removing the live content of such league
 from a multichannel video programming  
distributor 7as defined in section #fjb 
of the ,communications ,act of #aicd    
7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #ebb771 when such removal
 occurs during or is related to a       
negotiation regarding carriage of the   
games of such league by the multichannel
 video programming distributor44  7b7   
,elimination of antitrust exemption for 
local sports blackouts ,section #b of   
the ,sports ,broadcasting ,act of #aifa 
7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #abib7 is amended by     
striking 1 except within the home       
territory of a member club of the league
 on a day when such club is playing a   

game at home4  7c7 ,availability of     
games over the ,internet where not      
otherwise available on television ,the  
,sports ,broadcasting ,act of #aifa is  
amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating sections
 #d through #f as sections #e through   
#g1 respectively2 and  7#b7 by inserting
 after section #c the following3  #d4   
7a7 ,the antitrust exemption established
 under section #a of this ,act shall not
 apply to any league of clubs           
participating in professional football1 
baseball1 basketball1 or hockey contests
 that does not make a sponsored telecast
 of a covered game available to         
consumers1 for a fee or otherwise1 using
 an ,internet platform1 in any territory
 in which the game is not available for 
private viewing through a local         
television broadcast station or any     
available multichannel video programming
 distributor4  7b7 ,for purposes of this
 section-- 7#a7 the term covered game   
means a game that-- 7,a7 is played in   
the home territory of a member club of a

 league described in subsection 7a72 and
  7,b7 is not available for private     
viewing through a local television      
broadcast station or any available      
multichannel video programming          
distributor2  7#b7 the term multichannel
 video programming distributor has the  
meaning given the term in section #fjb  
of the ,communications ,act of #aicd    
7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #ebb72  7#c7 the term    
television broadcast station has the    
meaning given the term in section       
#cbe7;b77#g7 of the ,communications ,act
 of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #cbe7;b77#g772 
and  7#d7 the term ,internet platform   
means a delivery mechanism that uses    
packet-switched protocol or any         
successor technology4  4  #d4           
,application of the antitrust laws to   
professional major league baseball      
,section #bg of the ,clayton ,act 7#ae  
,u4,s4,c4 #bf;b7 is amended-- 7#a7 in   
subsection 7a7-- 7,a7 by striking       
subsections 7b7 through 7d7 and         
inserting subsections 7b7 and 7c72 and  

7,b7 by striking directly relating to or
 affecting employment of major league   
baseball players to play baseball at the
 major league level2  7#b7 in subsection
 7b7-- 7,a7 in the matter preceding     
paragraph 7#a71 by striking 1 any       
conduct1 acts1 practices or agreements  
that do not directly relate to or affect
 employment of major league baseball    
players to play baseball at the major   
league level1 including but not limited 
to2  7,b7 in paragraph 7#c7-- 7i7 by    
inserting or before franchise ownership2
 and  7ii7 by striking 1 the            
relationship and all that follows       
through collectively2  7,c7 by striking 
paragraph 7#d72 and  7,d7 by            
redesignating paragraphs 7#e7 and 7#f7  
as paragraphs 7#d7 and 7#e71            
respectively2  7#c7 by striking         
subsection 7c72 and  7#d7 by            
redesignating subsection 7d7 as         
subsection 7c74  #e4 ,effective date2   
applicability ,the amendments made by   
this ,act shall-- 7#a7 take effect on   

the date of enactment of this ,act2 and 
7#b7 apply to any contract or agreement 
entered into or modified by a league    
subject to the requirements of the      
,sports ,broadcasting ,act of #aifa on  
or after the date of enactment of this  
,act4