Moneyball Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4071 To require a professional baseball club to compensate its home community if such club relocates its home field more than 25 miles from its previous location. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 13, 2023 Ms. LEE of California (for herself and Mr. DESAULNIER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require a professional baseball club to compensate its home community if such club relocates its home field more than 25 miles from its previous location. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Moneyball Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 5 It is the sense of Congress that the unique antitrust 6 exemption granted to major league baseball is an artifact 7 of the unique value that individual teams have within their 8 home communities, and that breaking the bonds that tie 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jul 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4071.IH H4071 TKelley on DSK125TN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4071 IH franchises to their communities would nullify the legal and 1 public policy basis for such exemption. 2 SEC. 3. COMPENSATION FOR HOME COMMUNITIES OF PRO- 3 FESSIONAL BASEBALL TEAMS. 4 (a) Any professional baseball club that relocates its 5 home field more than 25 miles from its previous location 6 shall be required to provide compensation to its former 7 host community. 8 (b) Such compensation shall be— 9 (1) not less than the State, local, and or Tribal 10 tax revenue levied in the ten years prior to the date 11 of relocation; and 12 (2) paid respectively to each State, local, and or 13 Tribal government which levied taxes on the club in 14 ten years prior to the date of relocation. 15 (c) Should any professional baseball club fail to pro- 16 vide the compensation required by subsection (b), then— 17 (1) no persons in the business of organized pro- 18 fessional baseball shall be exempt from the antitrust 19 laws; and 20 (2) section 27 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 21 26b) shall not apply to the business of organized 22 professional baseball. 23 (d) Should any professional baseball club seek to 24 avoid the compensation required by this Act by disbanding 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jul 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4071.IH H4071 TKelley on DSK125TN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4071 IH the club, then the officers of such club shall be personally 1 responsible for the cost of compensation. 2 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act— 4 (1) the term ‘‘home field’’ means the venue 5 where a professional baseball club plays more than 6 one-third of its games in any calendar year; 7 (2) the term ‘‘host community’’ means the 8 State, local, and or tribal government areas where a 9 professional baseball team has its home field and 10 where it contributes tax revenue; and 11 (3) the term ‘‘antitrust laws’’— 12 (A) has the meaning given the term in 13 subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton 14 Act (15 U.S.C. 12); and 15 (B) includes section 5 of the Federal 16 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the 17 extent that such section applies to unfair meth- 18 ods of competition. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jul 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4071.IH H4071 TKelley on DSK125TN23PROD with BILLS