Senate Bill S8437

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8437
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               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:
 
   Section  1. Subdivision 3 of section 1000 of the general business law,
 as added by chapter 32 of the laws of  2016,  is  amended  and  two  new
 subdivisions 7 and 8 are added to read as follows:
   3.  "Combative  sport"  means  any unarmed bout, contest, competition,
 match, or exhibition undertaken to entertain an  audience,  wherein  the
 participants  primarily  grapple  [or  wrestle], or deliver blows of any
 kind to, or use force in any way to  manipulate,  the  body  of  another
 participant,  and  wherein the outcome and score depend entirely on such
 activities.
   7. "PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING"  MEANS  A  PERFORMANCE  OF  SPORTS  ENTER-
 TAINMENT IN WHICH TWO OR MORE PARTICIPANTS PERFORM IN MOCK OR THEATRICAL
 UNARMED,  HAND-TO-HAND  COMBAT  FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENTERTAINMENT, DO NOT
 INTENTIONALLY CAUSE BODILY HARM TO THEMSELVES OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS, AND
 THE OUTCOME OF SUCH EXHIBITION IS PREDETERMINED OR THE  PARTICIPANTS  DO
 NOT  NECESSARILY  STRIVE  TO  WIN. THIS DEFINITION SHALL NOT INCLUDE ANY
 WRESTLING CONTEST OR EXHIBITION WHERE THE CONTESTANTS ARE  ALL  AMATEURS
 AND  SUCH  EVENTS  ARE  SPONSORED  BY  AND  UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF ANY
 UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE, SCHOOL, OR OTHER INSTITUTION  OF  LEARNING,  RECOG-
 NIZED BY THE REGENTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
   8.  "WRESTLING  EXHIBITION", "WRESTLING CONTEST", OR "WRESTLING EVENT"
 MEANS ANY DEMONSTRATION OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING THAT IS  PRESENTED  TO
 THE PUBLIC.
   §  2. Section 1001 of the general business law, as added by chapter 32
 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
              

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   § 1001. Combative sports authorized. Combative sports conducted  under
 the  supervision  of the commission, under the supervision of an author-
 ized sanctioning entity, or as provided  for  in  section  one  thousand
 twenty-one  of this article, are hereby authorized. Authorized combative
 sports  include,  amateur  and  professional boxing, AMATEUR AND PROFES-
 SIONAL wrestling, sparring, kick boxing, single discipline martial  arts
 and mixed martial arts, pursuant to the provisions of this article.
   §  3.  Subdivision  10 of section 1015 of the general business law, as
 added by chapter 32 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   10. In addition to the bond  required  by  subdivision  nine  of  this
 section,  each  applicant for a license to conduct an authorized profes-
 sional combative sport shall execute and  file  with  the  secretary  of
 state  a  bond  in  an  amount  to be determined by the commission to be
 approved as to form and sufficiency of sureties thereon by the secretary
 of state, conditioned for and guaranteeing the payment of professionals'
 [and  professional  wrestlers']  purses,  salaries  of  club   employees
 licensed  by  the  commission,  and  the legitimate expenses of printing
 tickets and all advertising material.
   § 4. Subdivision 11 of section 1015 of the  general  business  law  is
 REPEALED.
   §  5. Section 1017 of the general business law, as added by chapter 32
 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   § 1017. Professional wrestling; promoters. 1.  [For  the  purposes  of
 this  article,  "professional wrestling" shall mean an activity in which
 participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of  provid-
 ing  entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide
 athletic contest or competition.] A PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING EVENT MAY NOT
 BE HELD IN THIS STATE EXCEPT UNDER A LICENSE ISSUED IN  ACCORDANCE  WITH
 THIS  ARTICLE  AND  THE  RULES  OF  THE COMMISSION, UNLESS SUCH EVENT IS
 EXEMPT FROM LICENSURE.
   2. Every person, partnership or  corporation  promoting  one  or  more
 professional  wrestling  exhibitions  in this state shall be required to
 obtain from the commission an annual license to conduct such exhibitions
 subject to terms and conditions promulgated by the  commission  pursuant
 to  rule  and consistent with the applicable provisions of this article.
 Each applicant shall pay an annual fee  established  by  the  commission
 pursuant  to rule, PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT SUCH FEE SHALL NOT EXCEED TWO
 HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS.
   3. A licensed promoter of a professional wrestling exhibition  in  the
 state  shall notify the athletic commission at least ten days in advance
 of the holding of the exhibition. [Each such promoter shall execute  and
 file with the comptroller a bond in an amount not less than twenty thou-
 sand dollars to be approved as to form and sufficiency of sureties ther-
 eon  by the comptroller, conditioned for and guaranteeing the payment of
 professional wrestler's purses, salaries of club employees  licensed  by
 the  commission,  the  legitimate  expenses  of printing tickets and all
 advertising material, payments  to  sponsoring  organizations,  and  the
 applicable state and local sales and compensating use tax.]
   4.  A  licensed  promoter of a professional wrestling exhibition shall
 provide for a [licensed physician] REGISTERED  NURSE  OR  OTHER  MEDICAL
 PROFESSIONAL  to  be  present  at  each exhibition, and such [physician]
 MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL shall examine each wrestler prior to each  perform-
 ance,  and  each  such pre-performance examination shall be conducted in
 accordance with regulations prescribed by the commission.
   5. Every licensed promoter of professional wrestling who promotes  six
 or  more  exhibitions in the state in a calendar year must have in place
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 an anti-drug plan and file with the commission a  written  copy  of  the
 plan.    Each  such plan shall address the use of a controlled substance
 defined in article thirty-three of the public health law, and such  plan
 shall at minimum provide for the following:
   (a)  dissemination  of educational materials to professional wrestlers
 who perform for any such promoter including a list of  prohibited  drugs
 and available rehabilitation services; and
   (b)  a  referral procedure to permit any such professional wrestler to
 obtain rehabilitation services.
   § 6. The state athletic commission shall promulgate  rules  and  regu-
 lations to implement the provisions of this section.
   § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.